Today In History with The Retrospectors (The Retrospectors)

Rerun: One of Giacomo Casanova's most famous deeds was his daring midnight, cross-rooftop escape from the dreaded “The Leads” prison in Venice on the night of October 31st, 1756. Key to his escape plan was a Bible, a large iron bar and an oversized bowl of pasta. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discuss why Casanova wasn’t thrilled about being moved to a new jail cell with a better view; explain why he had a little nap right in the middle of his jailbreak; and  consider the awkwardness of being such an indiscriminate shagger that you eventually accidentally end up in bed with your own daughter… Further Reading: • 'How Casanova’s provocative memoir created a legend' (BBC, 2016): https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20161108-how-casanovas-x-rated-memoir-created-a-legend  • 'Giacomo Casanova Breaks out of Prison' (Odd Salon, 2016): https://oddsalon.com/jan-5-1757-giacomo-casanova-breaks-out-of-prison/  • 'Fellini's Casanova - The Escape’ (Produzioni Europee Associate, 1976): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccQ3f0agbU4  ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The iconic DeLorean DMC-12 rolled off the production line in Belfast on 21st January, 1981. Priced at $25,000, the stainless steel gullwing sportscar was marketed as a luxury item, but its actual features fell short of the hype. The DeLorean Motor Company faced financial troubles, and had ceased production within just two years. But the car found its way into the "Back to the Future" script because John DeLorean, the man behind the car, was embroiled in a $24 million cocaine conspiracy, making headlines during the film's development. In this episode, The Retrospectors explain how DeLorean leveraged his profile within the car industry to raise the funds to finance his dream project; explain how the car’s production in Northern Ireland led to untrained workers and corporate deceit of the British government; and reveal how Doc Brown very nearly drove a Mustang... Further Reading: • ’The Short, Chaotic History of the DeLorean’ (Time, 2016): https://time.com/4180894/delorean-history/ • ‘DeLorean Motor Company and the DMC-12: the full story’ (AutoExpress, 2021): https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/features/354919/delorean-motor-company-and-dmc-12-full-story • ‘Back to the Future: The DeLorean’ (Amblin Entertainment, 1985): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0cw6lU5jo4 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Orgies, drinking songs, and - perhaps most damagingly of all - Paganism were rumoured tools of the colonist Thomas Morton when he established Merrymount, New England. It wasn't long before he was deported back to Britain by the Puritans on 9th June, 1628. It was his sympathy for the locals which had really done for him. But the headline-grabbing moment was his erection of a Westcountry-stye maypole, around which locals and settlers had danced and drank, and generally cavorted in ways that colonists aren’t usually disposed to do. In this episode Rebecca, Arion and Olly consider why Morton’s story is so rarely taught in schools; interrogate Encyclopedia Britannica’s description of him as ‘picturesque’; and ask just how different Massachusetts really was from 17th century Devon... Further Reading: • Bob Neufeld reads Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘The May-Pole of Merry Mount’ (1836): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZzS5xIZ4rI • ‘The Maypole That Infuriated the Puritans’, from The New England Historical Society: https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/maypole-infuriated-puritans/ • ‘The two men who almost derailed New England’s first colonies’ at The Conversation (2016): https://theconversation.com/the-two-men-who-almost-derailed-new-englands-first-colonies-68213 For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors   The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #1600s #Person #Religion #White #US #UK   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Hitachi launched their ‘personal massager’ on 20th May, 1968, they had no idea (or so they claim) that they were about to, um, go down in sex toy history. The Magic Wand was initially developed to relieve tension and relaxing sore muscles - but soon became celebrated as the most powerful vibrator the world had ever seen. In this episode, Rebecca, Olly and Arion discover how its innocent packaging helped boost sales when female masturbation was taboo, reveal the role sex educator Betty Dodson had in introducing it to the chattering classes, and consider how Apple would react today, if it was revealed that ‘rubbing an iPad on your bits felt good’... Content Warning: Explicit content, references to genitalia. Further Reading: • ‘A Brief History of The Magic Wand’, Cosmopolitan (2017): https://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/a14105499/hitachi-magic-wand-history/ • Sam returns her ‘neck massager’ to The Sharper Image in Sex and the City (2002): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T4QIO4XVPc • Magic Wand’s official website: https://magicwandoriginal.com/ For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors   The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #60s #Inventions #Discoveries #Funny #US Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thirteen years before ever being broadcast, the Grammys took their first steps into rock n’ roll history on May 4, 1959 - when, curiously, they were held in two separate cities on the same night.   If you were a fan of rock n’roll, however, you’d have been sorely disappointed by the winners - ‘Tequila’ by The Champs, Perry Como’s ‘Catch A Falling Star’, and, bizarrely, David Seville & The Chipmunks’ ‘The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)’.   In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion explain why The Chipmunks were so acclaimed, consider whether the Grammys have a problem with race, and reveal which noughties novelty pop song was inspired by The Sugarhill Gang...   Further reading: • The 1958 Grammys - the winners in full: https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/1st-annual-grammy-awards-1958 • The Dark, Angry Father of ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’: https://www.vulture.com/2015/11/the-dark-angry-father-of-alvin-and-the-chipmunks.html • The Beverly Hilton, one of the locations for the first ever Grammys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRYVAodIvw4 For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Voiceover: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #50s #Music #Arts #US Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Running a remote Yorkshire farm, with no flushing toilet and no electricity is an unlikely route to TV stardom, but 46 year-old spinster Hannah Hauxwell managed it on 30th January, 1973, when ITV aired the landmark documentary ‘Too Long A Winter’. Speaking lyrically about her singlehood, how she braved the bitter Winter, and how she survived on a grocery budget of just £5 per month, Hauxwell’s story inspired thousands of viewers to send her food parcels and arrange for her homestead to be modernised. In a series of follow-up films, Hauxwell travelled to America, met the Pope and Queen Mother, and became arguably the UK’s first ‘reality TV star’. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Hauxwell came to be featured on the programme that made her name; revel in an era where it was possible to be a TV personality without ever having even seen a television; and wonder if such a career trajectory would be possible today…  Further Reading: • ‘Hannah Hauxwell: the lasting legacy of the daughter of the Yorkshire Dales’ (Yorkshire Post): https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/interactive/hannah-hauxwell-yorkshire-dales-legacy • ‘Hannah Hauxwell: 'She didn't ask to be filmed, but her natural personality made her a star' (The Northern Echo, 2018): https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/15913703.hannah-hauxwell-she-didnt-ask-filmed-natural-personality-made-star/ • ‘Too Long A Winter’ (Yorkshire TV, 1973): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC5WeuLHUdU Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. This episode originally aired in 2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Inventing the internet and pioneering satellite navigation, U.S. government agency DARPA has had an illustrious history since being founded by President Eisenhower (as the Advanced Research Projects Agency) on February 7th, 1958.  Created in response to the Soviets launching Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite, its mission, which continues to this day, is ‘to prevent technological surprise.’ In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly uncover how DARPA helped create the humble computer mouse; explain how former Nazi Wernher von Braun found his way to the head of this supposedly All-American organisation; and look forward to a world of self-sustaining surveillance robots eating us out of house and home… Further Reading: • ‘Fifty years of DARPA: A surprising history’ (New Scientist, 2008): https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13908-fifty-years-of-darpa-a-surprising-history/ • ‘The Nazi Science That Fed the Apollo 11 Moon Landing’ (Time, 2019): https://time.com/5627637/nasa-nazi-von-braun/ • ‘3 of the strangest projects DARPA has worked on’ (Tech Insider, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hSs0S5FVx8 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: Peter The Great levied a tax on facial hair on 5th September, 1698, requiring every man in Moscow to shave or stump up some cash - although there were exemptions for the Orthodox Church. The hare-brained scheme occurred to the eccentric Peter on his expeditions through Europe, where he came to see clean chins as symbolic of progress and sophistication. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly uncover Peter’s other ‘European rules of comportment’; convert the costs of Peter’s taxes into the highly-relatable metric of ‘sturgeon from North’; and reveal how a similar tax was proposed in New Jersey as recently as 1907…  Further Reading: • ‘Russia: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present’ (Mauricio Borrero, 2009): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Russia/dhm0cGdrTOIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=beard+tax+1698&pg=PA83&printsec=frontcover • ‘10 terrible taxes in history’ (HistoryExtra, 2018): https://www.historyextra.com/period/general-history/10-terrible-taxes/ • ‘Ten Minute History - Peter the Great and the Russian Empire’ (History Matters, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tBNr2gjAA0 Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The renowned author of "War and Peace," Count Leo Tolstoy, set off on a pilgrimage to Optina Monastery on 10th June, 1881, disguised as a peasant. Accompanied by his valet, Sergei Arbuzov, Tolstoy traipsed 130 miles from his vast estate; his feet bleeding from blisters thanks to his insistence that he be dressed in authentically threadbare sandals. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly assess whether Tolstoy’s pilgrimage should be considered a spiritual journey, mid-life crisis, or poverty tourism; consider the impact his impulses had upon his poor wife, Sophia; and uncover the great author’s final moments, seeking ‘solitude’ at a railway station, as the world’s news cameras whirred away…  Further Reading: • ‘Tolstoy disguises himself as a peasant and leaves on a pilgrimage’ (HISTORY, 2009): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tolstoy-disguises-himself-as-a-peasant-and-leaves-on-a-pilgrimage • ‘A.N. Wilson on Tolstoy's life and work, 100 years on’ (Financial Times, 2010): https://slate.com/culture/2010/11/a-n-wilson-on-tolstoy-s-life-and-work-100-years-on.html • ’1908-10: Footage of the life and death of Leo Tolstoy’ (Public Domain Archive, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQO9HQAWqu4 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Scopes Monkey Trial - one of the most famous show trials in U.S. history - began in Dayton, Tennessee on 10th July, 1925.  Though it centred on John T. Scopes - a high school teacher put on trial for teaching evolution - he was actually a substitute teacher who may never have really taught the textbook concerned, and had put himself in the frame to test the Butler Act, a Tennessee law prohibiting the teaching of any theory that contradicted the biblical account of creation. The trial transformed Dayton into a chaotic carnival. Spectators and journalists from around the world flocked to the small town, which became a hub of street preachers, revival tents, and vendors selling Bibles and toy monkeys.  Both sides of the trial brought in heavyweights: William Jennings Bryan, renowned fundamentalist and three-time presidential candidate, volunteered to assist the prosecution, while the famous defence attorney Clarence Darrow, took up Scopes' defence.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the trial came to be heard out on the courthouse lawn; explain what happened to Scopes after receiving his sentence; and reveal which real-life monkeys were harmed in the making of the trial…  Further Reading: • ‘Scopes Monkey Trial: The Historic Trial That Began 90 Years Ago’ (TIME, 2015): https://time.com/3952775/scopes-monkey-trial-1925/ • ‘Timeline: Remembering the Scopes Monkey Trial’ (NPR, 2005): https://www.npr.org/2005/07/05/4723956/timeline-remembering-the-scopes-monkey-trial • ’Inherit the Wind’ (MGM, 1960): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtNdYsoool8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

France's Jewish population mostly had no family surnames - until 20th July, 1808, when Napoleon issued a decree insisting they adopted one. They were not permitted to choose place names, and allusions to the Old Testament were forbidden. Rumours persist that some families were charged higher fees to adopt prettier names, but in a Europe rife with antisemitism, Napoleon’s creations of Jewish consistoires (regulatory bodies) is still seen by some as a relatively tolerant policy. In this episode, Rebecca, Olly and Arion reveal the genesis of their names, explain how compound names like Rosenberg and Goldberg came about, and reveal the world’s names most in danger of extinction. Further Reading: • The Imperial Decree, at Napoloeon.org:  https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/articles/imperial-decree-of-20-july-1808-concerning-jews-with-no-fixed-first-or-family-names/ • ‘What's in a Surname: The History of Surnames and How They Help in Family History Research’, (MyHeritage, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sxmdkud0P8 • Alec Berg’s surname inspires this episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm: https://www.hbo.com/curb-your-enthusiasm/season-08/1-the-divorce/synopsis For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #1800s #Politics #Jewish #France Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: Conjoined teenagers Chang and Eng Bunker began their world tour in Boston, Massachusetts on 16th August, 1829. ‘Discovered’ by Scotsman Robert Hunter in Siam (now Thailand), the boys inspired the term ‘Siamese Twins’, despite being ethnically Chinese. Chang was a heavy drinker, and Eng was a teetotaller - yet they shared a liver. They had faced discrimination in the US, yet became slave-owning plantation owners in North Carolina. Then they married sisters - Sarah and Adelaide Yates. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal the sexual side of the brothers’ relationship; explain how the ambiguity of their ethnicity enabled them to climb up through Southern society; and consider the merits of their ‘death cast’, now on display in a Philadelphia museum... Further Reading: • ‘The Death of Chang and Eng, Conjoined Twins Until the Last’ (Atlas Obscura, 2013): https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/morbid-monday-the-demise-of-chang-and-eng • ‘How the original Siamese twins had 21 children by 2 sisters (Mail Online, 2014): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2825888/How-original-Siamese-twins-21-children-two-sisters-sharing-one-reinforced-bed.html • ‘World Famous Conjoined Twins, Chang and Eng Bunker’ (Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWXoPrGAQMk ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A weather map was first broadcast on TV on 18th August, 1926 - but there were no fancy graphics, no on-screen forecaster, and only one intended recipient: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, DC. In the UK, the Met Office had been producing weather forecasts since 1861, but the BBC didn’t bring a ‘weatherman’ to British screens until 1954. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain Charles Darwin’s connection to weather-forecasting; review the first weather forecast on NBC’s Today programme, and reveal exactly how much time the Brits spend discussing the weather…  Further Reading: • ‘Weather forecast facts: the first forecast in Britain, the birth of the Met Office and the first TV weatherman’ (HistoryExtra, 2018): https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/facts-history-weather-forecast-weatherman-tv/ • ‘BBC Television Weather at 60 - A Celebration’ (BBC, 2014): https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/research/television-weather • ‘TODAY's First Weather Forecast: Jan. 14, 1952’ (NBC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiAyWYCcAI0 For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #20s #Science #Inventions #US #UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: Henry Winkler, an accomplished water-skier, had asked the producers of ‘Happy Days’ if he could showcase his skills on the sitcom. On 20th September, 1977 his wish came true - in a shark-jumping sequence so absurd it would forever be linked with the irreversible artistic decline of long-running TV series. To ‘Jump the Shark’ was a phrase coined some eight years later by college roommates Sean Connolly and Jon Hein, and has since inspired other pop culture idioms including ‘growing the beard’ (a TV show that gets better with age) and ‘nuking the fridge’ (a ‘jump the shark’ for movie franchises, named after Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull). In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal Winkler’s star power as the top turn on Happy Days, and explain why Robin Williams’ appearance in the show *wasn’t* a dream. Do they say ‘eeeeeeeeeeey’ a lot? Exactamundo! Further Reading: • Fonzie ‘Jumps the Shark’ (Happy Days, 1977): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk_y_r5cXZs • ‘’Jumping the Shark’, ‘Fridging the Girlfriend’ and 8 Other Pop Culture Idioms Explained’ (Funk's House of Geekery, 2016): https://houseofgeekery.com/2016/07/11/jumping-the-shark-fridging-the-girlfriend-and-8-other-pop-culture-idioms-explained/ • ‘Jumping the Shark: 10 Great TV Shows That Took a Turn for the Worse’ (Rolling Stone, 2014): https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-lists/jumping-the-shark-10-great-tv-shows-that-took-a-turn-for-the-worse-156728/dexter-35323/ ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ To get an exclusive NordVPN deal, head to https://nordvpn.com/retrospectors to get an extra 4 months on the 2-year plan. There’s no risk with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: The world’s first notable air raid occurred on 22nd August, 1849, when the Austrian Army attacked Venice using a fleet of 200 miniature hot air balloons, each delivering a 33lb pound bomb.  Following a disastrous first attempt - when the balloons blew back on to their own men - this time the Austrians equipped each balloon with a long copper wire to trigger the detonation.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly weigh up if the event had a decisive effect on their recapture of the Italian city; consider the psychological impact of attacking from the skies; and reveal why a ‘drone’ is called a drone…  Further Reading: • ‘Bombs over Venice’ (History Today, 1958): https://www.historytoday.com/archive/bombs-over-venice • ‘Drones in Society’ by Ron Bartsch, James Coyne and Katherine Gray (Taylor & Francis, 2016) : https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Drones_in_Society/7CglDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=1849+austrian+venice+balloon&pg=PA20&printsec=frontcover • ‘Planehook Stories: The Siege of Venice’ (Droneport Texas): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQQhrd7_32w ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Linguist L. L. Zamenhof published ‘Dr. Esperanto's International Language’ on 26th July, 1887 - and in so doing launched Esperanto, the most popular ‘constructed language’ on Earth. Thanks to apps like Duolingo, there are still around 2 million esperantists today. It was once even proposed as the official language of the incipient League of Nations - but shortly afterwards, many esperantists, including Zemenhoff’s own children, were murdered in the Holocaust.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly learn about Amikejo, the 3.5 sq km territory between the Netherlands, Germany and France where Esperanto nearly became the official language; revisit the 1966 horror film ‘Incubus’, starring William Shatner; and consider whether Duolingo has killed off the language conference hook-up scene... Further Reading: • ‘L.L. Zamenhof and the Shadow People’(The New Republic, 2009): https://newrepublic.com/article/72110/ll-zamenhof-and-the-shadow-people • Tim Morley’s Ted X talk on why primary school children should learn Esperanto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gSAkUOElsg • ‘The bizarre story of a long-lost horror film made entirely in Esperanto, starring William Shatner’ (Quartz, 2017): https://qz.com/1035897/the-bizarre-story-of-a-long-lost-horror-film-made-entirely-in-esperanto-starring-william-shatner/ Por bonifiko materialo kaj subteni la montr, vizito Patreon.com/Retrospectors Ni ..os est malantaŭo morgaŭ!  Sekvi nin kie ajn vi trovas, ke viaj podkastoj: podfollow.com/Retrospectors La Retrospectors estas Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, kun Matt Monteto. Temo Muziko: Pasi La Pizojn. Parolisto: Bob Ravelli. Grafika desegnado: Terry Saunders. Redakti Produktiston: Emma Corsham. Kopirajto: Rekonsider Aŭdio / Olly Mann 2021. #1800s #Inventions #Arts #Jewish #Poland Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whilst visiting traumatised U.S. soldiers in an evacuation hospital on 10th August, 1943, General George S. Patton encountered a man he believed to be a coward. So he slapped him in the face with his gloves, and waved a pistol in his face. On Eisenhower’s insistence, Patton apologised to the soldier, but never exhibited genuine remorse for his actions. He wrote in his diary, ‘It is rather a commentary on justice when an Army commander has to soft-soap a skulker to placate the timidity of those above’. In this episode, Rebecca, Olly and Arion question the motives of ‘Old Blood and Guts’; reveal Patton’s attitude to Jews after the Holocaust; and play a round of ‘Patton Quote Bingo’…  Further Reading: • ‘I Won't Have Cowards in My Army’ (‘Patton’, 1970): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrtS2_TfbeY • General Patton’s speech in Boston, Massachusetts (Critical Past, 1945): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9DpKDwCJcM • ‘10 Things You May Not Know About George Patton’ (HISTORY, 2014): https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-george-patton The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. Love the show? Support the show! Patreon.com/Retrospectors #40s #Person #Politics #White #US Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Lt. Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) embraced and kissed on "Plato’s Stepchildren"; an episode of ‘Star Trek’ broadcast on 22nd November, 1968 - just a year after the Supreme Court declared interracial marriage to be legal. However, despite popular belief that this was TV’s first interracial kiss, it wasn’t. It wasn’t even the first interracial kiss on TV featuring William Shatner… In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly examine just how slowly attitudes to ‘mixed marriage’ were shifting in the United States; compare this iconic Trekkie moment to homoerotic frat-boy YouTube videos; and reveal how the actors concerned deliberately sabotaged ‘the wide’ so their kiss would be screened coast-to-coast… Further Reading: • Kirk and Uhura kiss on ‘Star Trek’ (Paramount Television, 1968): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lThvEsP5-9Y • ‘'Star Trek's' interracial kiss 50 years ago boldly went where none had gone before’ (NBC News, 2018): https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/star-trek-s-interracial-kiss-50-years-ago-went-boldly-n941181 • ‘Nichelle Nichols on filming the first interracial kiss on American television’ (Archive of American Television, 2010): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hKKkGhEDoU ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

General John J. Pershing’s mission to capture the guerrilla leader Pancho Villa in Mexico was quietly withdrawn on 28th January, 1917 Initiated in response to Villa's cross-border raid on Columbus, New Mexico, the mission was ordered by President Woodrow Wilson but proved embarrassing and ineffective for the U.S, Army, with Villa remarking that Pershing ‘came in like an eagle, but left like a wet chicken’. In this episode, The Retrospectors track Villa’s career from highway thief to general in the revolutionary army; discover his unusual approach to finding a spouse; and reveal what happened to his head after he was assassinated… Further Reading: • ‘General Pershing's Mexican Expedition to capture Pancho Villa predates his World War I career’ (National Museum of American History, 2016): https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/general-pershings-mexican-expedition-capture-pancho-villa-predates-his-world-war-i • ‘Pancho Villa’s Last Gasp’ (Texas Monthly, 1983): https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/pancho-villas-last-gasp/ • ‘UNITED STATES VS. MEXICO - THE PURSUIT OF PANCHO VILLA’ (Historic Films Stock Footage, 1916): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byL6QIDRY6o Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Mille Miglia - a daring, 1,000-mile race across Italy - was first held on March 26th, 1927. Using ordinary dirt roads as the racetrack, competitors tore through cities, mountains, and countryside at unprecedented, breakneck speeds. Townspeople lined the streets, waving flags and throwing flowers, as glamorous Bugattis and Alfa Romeos roared past. The first winners, Nando Minoja and Giuseppe Morandi, completed the course in just over 21 hours, averaging an eye-watering 48 mph. They had to dodge wandering farm animals, slow-moving carts, and clueless pedestrians.  But for all its romance, the Mille Miglia had a dark side. The combination of high speeds, unpredictable roads, and massive crowds made it incredibly dangerous. The 1938 race saw a devastating crash near Bologna; and in 1957, two separate fatal crashes, including one involving dashing aristocrat Alfonso de Portago, that finally brought an end to the competition in its original form. The event had experienced 56 deaths over its 24-race history.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how having a skilled navigator/mechanic was just as important as having a fast car; discover the methods ultimate champion Sir Stirling Moss used to win the race in just over 10 hours in 1955; and explain how spectators can still taste the golden age of this iconic race, even in the 21st century… Further Reading: • ‘The first 1000 Miglia in 1927 – The history of the 1000 Miglia’ (1000 Miglia Official Website): https://1000miglia.it/en/history-of-1000-miglia/1927-the-first-1000-miglia/ • ‘No seatbelts, 170mph: days of death and dynamism’ (The Times, 2015): https://www.thetimes.com/article/f0b41044-bb1c-4694-afc9-947ace151afc • ‘Bracco vince la Mille Miglia’ (Archivio Luce Cinecittà, 1952): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V59ZbkF5J40 #Italy #Motoring #20s #Sport Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ‘Last Invasion’ of Britain was not, as most people assume, The Battle of Hastings - but actually a farcical French attempt to conquer the Pembrokeshire town of Fishguard on 24th February, 1797.  Windy weather had already scuppered the first two prongs of this failed three-pronged attack, which was ultimately overthrown by a rag-bag militia of volunteers, a shipload of discarded booze, and a Welshwoman with a pitchfork. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask if the French had any realistic chance of success; explain why their soldiers seemed quite so unmotivated by the task at hand; and pay tribute to the pub at the heart of the surrender…  Further Reading: • ‘Battle of Fishguard: The Last Invasion Of Mainland Britain’ (HistoryExtra, 2022): https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/last-invasion-britain-french-battle-fishguard-what-happened-jemima-nicholas/ • ‘Jemima Nicholas, a Fishguard Heroine - People of Pembrokeshire’ (coastalcottages.co.uk): https://www.coastalcottages.co.uk/inspiration/heritage/jemima-nicholas-a-fishguard-heroine/ • ‘The One Show: The French Invasion of Fishguard’ (BBC Wales, 2011): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QGBV-rizTw Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Arion, Rebecca and Olly investigate the story of Dr. Hawley Crippen, convicted of murdering his wife, music hall performer Cora Crippen, on 22nd October, 1910. Cora’s corpse had been discovered in their Holloway cellar - but homoeopath Crippen had fled to America with his lover Ethel Lenev dressed as a boy. However, the Captain of the SS Montrose became suspicious of their behaviour, and wirelessly telegraphed Scotland Yard to arrest the pair upon arrival in Canada. In this episode, the Retrospectors explore how it was Lenev’s love for Cora’s jewellery that initially raised suspicion; consider how technology enabled the media to closely cover the case, turning it into a sensational story as it unfolded in real-time; and question the description of the couple piously parroted in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography… Further Reading: • ‘Editorial: the Dr Crippen murder trial’ (The Guardian, 1910): https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/oct/24/editorial-the-dr-crippen-trial-archive-1910 • ‘The Execution of Dr Crippen’ (History Today, 2010): https://www.historytoday.com/archive/execution-dr-crippen • ‘The Dark & Disturbing Case of Dr. Crippen’ (Brief Case, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQb1rFZjDxc This episode first premiered in 2023, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 100 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!   We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/retrospectors   The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Arion, Rebecca and Olly recall the founding of The Kappa Alpha Society, the oldest continuously existing college fraternity, established as a literary society at Union College, New York on 26th November, 1825. The founders, led by John Hart Hunter, sought camaraderie and intellectual discussions, creating a forum where they could break free from the constraints of the curriculum. The use of Greek letters and mottos added an element of secrecy, a common feature of fraternal orders during that era. Later, these societies evolved into fraternities with social elements, including rituals, signs, and boozy gatherings. In this episode, The Retropsectors uncover just how many US Preisdents have been members of a college fraternity; reveal Jon Hamm’s involvement in an out-of-control hazing ritual; and explain how baked potatoes became an iconic foodstuff for students ever since this day in history… Further Reading: • ‘“Botany Bay”: The State of Society at Union College during the Early Nineteenth Century’ (Andrew Cassarino, Union College, 2018): https://digitalworks.union.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1800&context=theses • ‘Mad Men star Jon Hamm was charged with hazing in college days’ (The Guardian, 2015): https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/apr/10/mad-men-star-jon-hamm-was-charged-with-hazing-in-college-days • ‘Why colleges tolerate fraternities’ (Vox, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVh7HP_wisw #1800s #US #White #Inventions This episode first premiered in 2023, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 100 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!   We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:podfollow.com/retrospectors Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Arion, Rebecca and Olly pore over the astonishing career of football legend Pelé, who (by his own count, if not FIFA’s) scored his 1,000th goal on 19th November, 1969. Smashing racial barriers, Pelé was the first black player to grace the cover of LIFE magazine; played a pivotal role in Brazil's triumphs at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, the 1962 World Cup in Chile, and the 1970 World Cup in Mexico; and remains the all-time leading scorer for his club, Santos FC. In this episode, The Retrospectors weigh up arguments whether his 1000th goal ‘counts’; reveal how Pelé got his name; and praise how the player transformed his nation’s image on the world stage from ‘coffee beans and Carmen Miranda’ to a global footballing powerhouse... Further Reading: • ‘50 Years On From Pelé’s 1,000th Goal, It Has Become Necessary To Reaffirm His Greatness’ (Forbes, 2019): https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshualaw/2019/11/19/50-years-on-from-pels-1000th-goal-it-has-become-necessary-to-reaffirm-his-greatness/ • ‘Pele's 1,000+ goals: Why Santos' claims about the G.O.A.T. should be taken seriously’ (ESPN, 2021): https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/37612913/why-santos-claims-goat-taken-seriously • ‘Pele scoring his 1,000th career goal’ (The Sports Pages, 2011): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=107f2tga0LE This episode first premiered in 2023, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 100 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!   We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/retrospectors   The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The most famous armless statue of all time, ‘Venus de Milo’ was discovered by a farmer on the Aegean island of Milos on 8th April, 1829, sparking an international bidding war that saw her eventually donated to the Louvre by Louis XVIII. The French had a particular interest in snapping up a new ancient treasure, having been forced to return many priceless artefacts to their original nations following Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal the statue’s original blingtastic paintwork; explain why Louis XVIII’s obesity delayed its arrival in Paris; and ask what actually happened to Venus’s arms… Image: https://flickr.com/photos/sey_alg9/ Further Reading: • ‘Venus de Milo: The Most Famous Armless Statue in the World’ (HowStuffWorks, 2020): https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/artwork/venus-de-milo.htm • ‘How a peasant farmer found the Venus de Milo’ (The National, 2020): https://www.thenational.scot/news/18365077.peasant-farmer-found-venus-de-milo/ • ‘The conspiracy behind this famous statue’ (VOX, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs1VWuQEd7Y Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: The first modern dog show took place in Newcastle on 28th June, 1859. Essentially a sideshow to the annual exhibition of cattle, it featured just 23 pointers and 27 setters. The owners of the champion breeds won a gun. Allegations of inbreeding and nepotism plagued the contest from the very beginning; controversies which eventually sparked the invention of The Kennel Club in 1873. In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion consider the competition’s historical connections to pigeon-fancying and eugenics; unearth Charles Dickens’ sceptical opinion of the 1862 ‘Monster Dog Show’ in Islington; and explain how Charles Cruft maneuvered himself up from dog-food salesman to create the premier event in canine display… Further Reading: • Early 20th century dog shows at Vintage News Daily: https://vintagenewsdaily.com/22-lovely-photos-that-capture-vintage-dog-shows-in-the-early-20th-century/ • ‘The Surprising History of Victorian Dog Shows’, (History Extra, 2009): https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/the-surprising-history-of-victorian-dog-shows/ • British Pathé visits Monkstown Championship Dog Show (1950):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSbO7vWuDpc ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John McEnroe was once the world’s No.1 tennis player, winning seven major Grand Slams. But he’ll always be remembered for his extraordinary rant against umpire Edward James at Wimbledon on 22nd June, 1981. During his match with Tom Gullikson, James ruled that the New Yorker’s serve went out. McEnroe's reaction - "You can't be serious man, you cannot be serious!... You guys are the absolute pits of the world!" - staggered the genteel world of tennis. In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca discover that McEnroe had already established a bad-boy reputation with the UK press, who'd labelled him ‘superbrat’ in 1977; marvel at the reaction of the BBC commentators to the unfolding drama; and consider whether the general public would still actually remember who McEnroe was, if this had never happened... Further Reading: • The rant unfolding (1981), from the ESPN Archives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ransFQVzf6c • The Washington Post, pre-rant, record McEnroe’s depiction in Britain as ‘superbrat’ (1979): https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1979/06/24/british-aim-fire-at-the-superbrat/7115ab3c-154a-4f5a-b99e-2632fbd2bc5f/ • John McEnroe on ‘Desert Island Discs’: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08xxfz3 For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #80s #Sport #Tennis #Person #White #US #UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

William James Herschel, a British colonial magistrate in India, first used fingerprints as a means of identification on 28th July, 1858 - not to catch a criminal, but to implement two-step verification on a contract. In Britain, the technology was first used to solve the theft of some billiard balls in 1902. These days, it’s been largely usurped by DNA, but remains a staple of the policing repertoire. In this episode, Rebecca, Arion and Olly consider whether ears might be better criminal identifiers than fingers; reveal the history of the mugshot; and explain why koalas are our secret hand doubles...  Further Reading: • ‘Press Down Firmly, You're in Our Files Now’ (WIRED, 2011): https://www.wired.com/2011/07/0728india-fingerprint-identification/ • ‘The Blackburn child killer and rapist who changed criminal forensics forever’ (LancsLive, 2019): https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire-news/blackburn-child-killer-rapist-who-17118836 • The Bertillon System of Criminal Identification in use by the Police in the 1910s (Kinolibrary Archive Film collections): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Myc8LZSME For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #1800s #Crime #Person #Inventions #Discoveries #Technology #UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rowan Atkinson headed up the cast and writing team, yet the first series of ‘The Black Adder’ drew a decidedly mixed reaction from audiences and critics when it debuted on BBC TV on 15th June, 1983. Set in 1484, and filmed in castles across England, the series led some wags to quip that it ‘looks a million dollars, but cost a million quid’. It was only later, when Ben Elton joined Richard Curtis to write subsequent series, that its iconic comedy characters truly took shape. In this episode, Rebecca, Olly and Arion consider the role of Oxbridge privilege in the genesis of the series, ask whether it was ever really an ‘alternative comedy’, and quote some funny lines at each other - because this is a discussion about Blackadder, after all... Further Reading: • The show’s profile on the BBC Comedy site (2014): https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theblackadder/ • ‘Blackadder at 35: why the writers completely reinvented him after one series’ (The i, 2018): https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/blackadder-reinvented-after-one-series-164228 • CLIP: ‘The Blackadder is Born’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na4v8CeKnxM For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #80s #Arts #TV #Person #White #Funny #UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joseph "Blueskin" Blake was hanged on 11th November, 1724. His notoriety as a highwayman was due in large part to his network of criminal associates, including ‘London’s most glamorous rogue’ Jack Sheppard (who inspired Gay’s Beggars Opera) and ‘Thief-Taker General’, Jonathan Wilde. Under the guise of law enforcement, Wilde had charged victims for retrieving their stolen goods, manipulating the criminal justice system so that he profited from crimes he had himself orchestrated. Blake found himself under Wilde's wing as a young pickpocket, but his loyalty didn’t pay off in the end, as Wilde personally apprehended Blake following a botched robbery. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain what a ‘Buttock and File’ scheme is; recall how Sheppard’s daring prison escapes captured the public imagination; and explain how an offence as minor as lace theft ultimately brought Wilde to the same grim end as Blueskin… Further Reading: • ’Lives of the Most Remarkable Criminals: Joseph Blake’ (Hayward, 1735): https://www.pascalbonenfant.com/18c/newgatecalendar/lives_joseph_blake.html  • ’The Amazing Escapes of Jack Sheppard’ (Historic UK): https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/The-Amazing-Escapes-of-Jack-Sheppard/ • ’Policing London - The Fall of Jonathan Wild’ (Extra History, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9siL4CWTe4 #Crime #London #1700s #Macabre This episode first premiered in 2023, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 100 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!   We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:podfollow.com/retrospectors   The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The first night of Richard Sheridan’s classic comedy ‘The Rivals’ did not go according to plan. Critics thought it was too long, the Irish gentry in the audience were insulted, and an actor was pelted with rotten fruit. It closed after one performance on 17th January, 1775. But then… after eleven days of rewrites, recasting and edits (a process Sheridan called “prunings, trimmings and patchings”), the show re-opened - and became the much-loved hit it remains to this day. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly expose how Sheridan exploited his notoriety in Bath to put bums on seats; unpick how the play’s famous ‘Malapropisms’ achieved seminal status; and revisit the best of Sheridan’s real-life one-liners… Further Reading: • ‘The scourge of Bath’ (The Guardian, 2004): https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2004/may/15/theatre • The Dramatic Works of Richard Brinsley Sheridan (Cavan Library): http://www.cavanlibrary.ie/file/Local-Studies/Library-Scanned-Docs/The_dramatic_works_of_Richard_Brinsley_Sheridan.pdf • ‘What Are Malapropisms?’ (Bright Idea, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMdgr-qSAfM Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oil tycoon Robert P. McCulloch purchased London Bridge for $2,460,000 on 17th April, 1968. The Victorian structure, which had been sinking into the River Thames at a rate of one inch every eight years, was then dismantled stone by stone and shipped to the USA, where it now bestrides Lake Havasu City, Arizona.  The wheeze was the work of advertising executive-turned-London councilor Ivan Luckin, who convinced his colleagues that it might be possible to sell the bridge to pay for the costs of building a new one, and set about a marketing blitz including a press conference in New York in which he invoked the crossing’s illustrious Roman history. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly revisit the gaudy launch ceremony; debunk the myth that McCulloch thought he was buying Tower Bridge instead; and reveal that buying the bridge wasn’t even this eccentric entrepreneur’s wackiest idea… Further Reading: • ‘How London Bridge Ended Up In Arizona’ (HISTORY, 2016): https://www.history.com/news/how-london-bridge-ended-up-in-arizona • Inside Arizona's London Bridge (BBC, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnHy4_P8SCE • ‘London Bridge in America - The Tall Story of a Transatlantic Crossing, By Travis Elborough’ (Jonathan Cape, 2013):  https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/London_Bridge_in_America/n96uDvKN3ioC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Ivan+Luckin&pg=PA271&printsec=frontcover Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ‘Great Stink’ - when the stench of untreated human and industrial waste was amplified by a particularly hot Summer - reached a peak on 15th July, 1858, when members of Parliament lead by Benjamin Disraeli rushed through an emergency cleanup bill, kickstarting a transformative revamp of London’s sewage system. Prior to this, waste from factories, slaughterhouses, and households accumulated on the capital’s riverbanks, creating a thick, malodorous crust. Most Londoners believed that bad air caused illness, rather than the poisoned water itself - a misunderstanding which initially led people to simply cover their noses to avoid the stench. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal the desperate methods attempted by MPs in order to prevent the stench from entering the Palace of Westminster; marvel at the architectural ambition of Sir Joseph Bazalgette, chief engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Works; and explain why the ‘miasma theory’ had gone unchallenged for centuries…  Further Reading: • ‘Too hot? In 1858 a heatwave turned London into a stinking sewer’ (BBC News, 2018): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-45009749 • ‘London's Great Stink’ (Historic UK): https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Londons-Great-Stink/ • ‘Bazalgette: Saviour of the Great Stink’ (): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k8AnhNkN04 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Millperra, a quiet suburb in southwest Sydney, is now best known for a tragic event that took place on 2nd September, 1984: a violent shootout between two biker gangs, the Comancheros and the Bandidos, which became known as the ‘Father’s Day Massacre’. As 19 armed Comancheros ambushed the Bandidos in a car park during a motorcycle swap meet, the situation quickly spiralled out of control, with gunfire erupting and innocent bystanders, including an innocent 15 year-old girl, Leanne Walters, caught in the crossfire. The brutality of the event shocked the nation, with eyewitnesses describing a scene of unimaginable horror, with bikers and bystanders alike caught in a bloody battle. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain what Rule 4 of the gang - "No screwing another member's old lady" - had to do with the battle; marvel at the composure of the bikies who paused their fighting to go and get beers; and reveal what Jock Ross, the man at the centre of the conflict, went on to do next…  Further Reading: • ’The Milperra bikie massacre’ (Sydney Morning Herald, 1984): https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/from-the-archives-1984-the-milperra-bikie-massacre-20190826-p52kvb.html • ‘Witnesses recall the Milperra massacre 30 years on’ (ABC News, 2014): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-02/30th-anniversary-of-the-milperra-massacre-brings-back-bad-memor/5712522 • ‘The Father's Day Massacre: The worst bikie violence in the world’ (60 Minutes Australia, 2018):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6G38Lbrn9Q Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: ‘Disco Demolition Night’, the brainchild of 24 year-old shock jock Steve Dahl, caused mass hysteria at Comiskey Park, Chicago on 12th July, 1979 - causing a pitch invasion that lead to 39 arrests. Intended as a promotional event for a Tigers vs White Sox doubleheader, attendees were lured with discounted admission if they turned up to the game armed with disco records to be blown up with powerful explosives; an intermission entertainment that has since been contextualised as a racist, homophobic book-burning. In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion examine why Chicago was caught in a rock/disco divide; revisit the club classics of 1979; and question the wisdom of sex on third base… Further Reading: • Broadcast footage from the night - from The Museum of Classic Chicago Television: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqDkBM9vxw8 • ‘Disco Demolition: the night they tried to crush black music’ (The Guardian, 2019): https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jul/19/disco-demolition-the-night-they-tried-to-crush-black-music • ‘July 12, 1979: 'The Night Disco Died' — Or Didn't’ (NPR, 2016): https://www.npr.org/2016/07/16/485873750/july-12-1979-the-night-disco-died-or-didnt ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Image: By Eddie Wagner - Original publication: 1979, Chicago TribuneImmediate source: https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/july-2016/the-night-disco-died/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72807463 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: Chairman Mao Zedong swam in the Yangtze River on 25th July, 1966. Despite being in his Seventies, the leader was said by party propagandists (and hence every newspaper in China) to have set a world-record pace of nearly 15 km in 65 min.  This piece of political theatre showed the world that the public face of the Chinese Communist party was in robust physical shape (despite reports in the West to the contrary), and reset Mao’s image in China after his disastrous ‘Great Leap Forward’ had claimed the lives of millions of people. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly unpick the symbolism of this iconic event; explain how Mao leveraged the publicity to reconsolidate his power; and reveal what Mao got VERY wrong about sparrows…  Further Reading: • ‘The Chairman's Historic Swim’ (TIME, 1999): http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2054250,00.html • ‘Power of symbolism: The swim that changed Chinese history’ (SupChina, 2021): https://supchina.com/2021/07/14/power-of-symbolism-the-swim-that-changed-chinese-history/ • ‘This photo triggered China’s Cultural Revolution’ (Vox, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXByOrRrO7c&feature=emb_ti ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In today’s episode Arion, Rebecca and Olly look into the founding of the massive multinational e-commerce company eBay. On the day it went live it was named AuctionWeb, and was just one project among many being built by its creator, Pierre Omidyar. In fact, a significant part of the site was dedicated to information about Ebola, which happened to be a pet interest of Omidyar. In this episode, The Retrospectors put to bed the myth that eBay was short for “EbolaBay”; list all the things that you cannot sell on the site; and reveal Olly’s first ever eBay purchase… Further Reading: ‘The Small-Scale Story Behind eBay's Big Bucks’ (Time magazine, 2015): https://time.com/4013672/ebay-founded-story/ ‘25 years on since the birth of eBay, a true giant of modern computing’ (The National, 2020): https://www.thenational.scot/news/18693304.25-years-since-birth-ebay-true-giant-modern-computing/ ‘eBay - How It Started’ (Company Man; 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkEorxAxFXo This episode first premiered in 2023, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 100 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!   We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/retrospectors   The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: Camp Siegfried hosted a ‘Nazi Camp Fete’ for 40,000 attendees on 15th August, 1938. The Summer resort, on Yaphank, Long Island, was the epicentre of the German-American Bund: an organisation devoted to establishing a Nazi stronghold across the United States.  Alongside campfire building and swimming lessons, young attendees were taught to emulate the Hitler Youth and host mini Nuremberg-style rallies.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how delegates were trained to anticipate a Nazi coup of the USA; consider why all the key players in the movement escaped serious criminal prosecution, even after the Second World War; and why events such as these were so casually reported, even in the New York Times…  Further Reading: • ‘New York's 1930s Nazi Summer Camp’ (Ripley’s, 2016): https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/nazi-summer-camp/ • ‘A New York Town in the 1930s Embraced Hitler and Nazi Germany’ (History Collection, 2017): https://historycollection.com/welcome-hitler-street-usa-pending/ • ‘Nazis on Long Island: The Story of Camp Siegfried’ (Museum of Jewish Heritage, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGJW1VQo1Ts ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With their colourful uniforms and pomp, the Vatican’s iconic Swiss Guards might seem more decorative than dangerous today - but their origin is far from ornamental. On January 22nd, 1506, 150 elite Swiss mercenaries marched into the City, and were blessed by ‘Warrior Pope’ Julius II at sunset to protect the Pope during a tumultuous era of political strife. The Swiss were Renaissance Europe’s answer to modern special forces. Renowned for their phalanx formations and halberds, they could dismantle charging cavalry with precision. Their reputation as fierce fighters had already drawn the attention of earlier popes, including Sixtus IV and Alexander VI, who hired Swiss mercenaries to bolster their armies.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly revisit the lethal Sack of Rome in 1527; explain how Jules Repond revived and reformed the Guards in the 20th century; and consider the strict qualifications for candidates to become a member of their ranks… Further Reading: • ’A history of the Vatican's Swiss Guard’ (Daily Telegraph, 2011): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityandholysee/8873853/A-history-of-the-Vaticans-Swiss-Guard.html?msockid=23c525cc0876634208c637a40951628f • ‘The Swiss Guard’ (Suisse Société): https://houseofswitzerland.org/swissstories/society/swiss-guard • ’Ex-guards march to mark 500th anniversary’ (Associated Press, 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyF8VDovJqM Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The women of the Wild West mostly spent their lives laundering men’s clothes, bringing up children, and avoiding getting caught in the crossfire - but that didn’t stop a legend forming around them; not least dime novel heroine and ‘Bandit Queen’ Belle Starr, who was murdered on 3rd February, 1889. The ‘outlaw’ was riding home, two days before her 41st birthday, eating a piece of cornbread, when she was blasted off her horse. And then shot again, in the face. But mystery still surrounds the identity of her killer. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the fallout from the civil war shaped Starr’s life; ask whether ostrich plumes, rattlesnake rattles and dried earlobes could come back into fashion; and explain what Tom Starr’s gang had in common with Elton John…  Further Reading: • ‘Belle Starr the Bandit Queen: How a Southern Girl Became a Legendary Western Outlaw’ (Atlas Obscura, 2013): https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/belle-starr-the-bandit-queen • ‘Belle Starr The Badass "Bandit Queen" Of The Wild West’ (allthatsinteresting, 2021): https://allthatsinteresting.com/belle-starr ‘Belle Starr's Crazy Life Story & Grave!’ (Rhetty for History, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2XLrY0cuJ8 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Go to proton.me/todayinhistory to receive a 38% discount on Proton Mail The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. This episode originally aired in 2022 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Captain Peter Warner and his crew made a startling discovery as they sailed past the uninhabited island of Atta in the Pacific on 11th September, 1966: six naked, shaggy-haired teenage boys, who had been stranded there for fifteen months. Sione, Stephen, Kolo, David, Luke, and Mano had escaped from their boarding school in Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, having "borrowed" a boat and embarked on a spontaneous adventure that went horribly wrong when a storm left them adrift at sea.  For eight days, they battled the elements, surviving on coconuts, bananas, and rainwater before they spotted Atta. With their boat breaking apart, they used makeshift buoyancy aids to swim to the island, beginning their remarkable tale of survival. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the boys’ ingenuity, faith and resilience had kept them alive; reveal the extraordinary lives they went on to have afterwards; and marvel at their well-maintained muscles…  Further Reading: • ‘The Miraculous Survival of 6 Tongan Boys in 1965’ (People, 2020): https://people.com/human-interest/inside-real-life-lord-of-the-flies-survival-of-6-tongan-boys-54-years-ago/ • ’The real Lord of the Flies: what happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months’ (The Guardian, 2020): https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/09/the-real-lord-of-the-flies-what-happened-when-six-boys-were-shipwrecked-for-15-months • ‘The real-life 'Lord of the Flies'’ (ABC News, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDz-331V-pY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Las Vegas was a struggling mining outpost until March 19th, 1931, when Nevada Governor Fred B. Balzar signed Assembly Bill 98, also known as the Wide Open Gambling Bill: legalising casino gambling, and setting the stage for town’s transformation into Sin City.  When the Boulder Dam project began, drawing thousands of workers nearby, Fremont Street exploded into a Saturday night hotspot. And when mobster Bugsy Siegel opened the Flamingo in 1946, glitzy Hollywood-style resorts followed in his wake, with celebrities like Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack drawing in high-rollers and cementing the city’s glamour. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the Vegas boom was enabled by the election of tough-on-crime L.A. mayor Fletcher Bowron; discover why the City was known as the "Mississippi of the West”; and reveal how a 50-room hotel was once considered a cutting edge attraction in the Strip… Further Reading: • ’How Las Vegas Became a Gambling Mecca’ (HISTORY, 2022): https://www.history.com/news/las-vegas-history-mobsters-gambling • ’Nevada marks 90th anniversary of legal gambling’ (The Mob Museum, 2021): https://themobmuseum.org/blog/nevada-marks-90th-anniversary-of-legal-gambling/ • The City of Las Vegas: The Early Years (City of Las Vegas TV, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czyMm5DdqAY #30s #US #Crime #Games #Racism Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: Scent-o-Vision, an in-cinema olfactory experience, was unveiled at the New York World’s Fair on 10th October, 1940. Accompanying a short film ‘My Dream’, its Swiss inventor, Hans Laube, pumped in aromas of rose water, peaches and burning incense for his wowed attendees to sniff. But it would be two decades before the technology was finally put into a feature film - Mike Todd, Jr’s ‘Scent of Mystery’, in 1960 - and never used again. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly revisit the 50’s battle of the ‘smellaroo pix’, as Todd’s re-named ‘Smell-o-Vision’ took on the rival ‘Smell-O-Rama’; explore why theme parks ultimately provided the best platform for the theory in practice; and consider what happens when an audience experiences ‘olfactory fatigue’...  Image source Carmen Laube Further Reading: • ‘Smell-O-Vision: That Movie Really Did Stink!’ (Neatorama, 2015): https://www.neatorama.com/2015/04/27/Smell-O-Vision-That-Movie-Really-Did-Stink/ • ‘Rare pictures from the 1939 New York World's Fair’ (Rare Historical Photos, 2021): https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/1939-new-york-world-fair/ • ‘Trailer: Scent of Mystery’ (1960): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7jNGsLEn2U ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A boatload of Swedish identical twins, aged 11 to 80, descended into Felixstowe on 7th October, 1977 - wearing matching outfits - for a shopping trip.  The eye-catching stunt was part of a scientific project led by ship captain Sune Dahlström, a twin himself, in collaboration with the Swedish Twin Register at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and aimed to study the similarities and differences in their behaviours. Twin studies have a long history, with dark roots in Victorian eugenics and, infamously, Nazi experiments. However, the Swedish Twin Register became a more positive force for scientific discovery, meticulously based on twin birth records from parishes across Sweden, and today holding data on nearly 100,000 pairs of twins, making it the most comprehensive collection of its kind. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly celebrate the accomplishments of the Swedish Twin Register; discover how education impacts longevity; and consider why on Earth Felixstowe, of all places, played host to this unusual event… Further Reading: • ‘“As twins we’re useful”’ (Karolinska Institutet, 2017): https://ki.se/en/research/popular-science-and-dialogue/spotlight-on/spotlight-on-participating-in-research/as-twins-were-useful • ‘Seeing Double: How History Became Obsessed With Twins’ (Google Arts & Culture): https://artsandculture.google.com/story/seeing-double-how-history-became-obsessed-with-twins/XgIiH-H78-86LQ • ‘What identical twins separated at birth teach us about genetics’ (BBC REEL, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMlJcOSRX-8 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ‘Battle of Santiago’ was the name given to the shambolic and brutal World Cup Final between Chile and Italy on 2nd June, 1962. Featuring drop-kicks, punching and nose-breaking, the incendiary footage of the match was introduced by the BBC’s David Coleman as “the most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football, possibly in the history of the game.” In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how referee Ken Aston took inspiration from the event to invent red and yellow cards; explain why Chile, still recovering from the Valdivia earthquake, had taken Italy’s criticism of their country so seriously; and question whether the BBC’s apparent indignation was entirely genuine... Further Reading: • ‘Disgusting and Disgraceful: The Battle of Santiago At World Cup 1962’, The Sportsman (2018): https://www.thesportsman.com/articles/disgusting-and-disgraceful-the-battle-of-santiago-at-world-cup-1962 • FIFA revisits the match in 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5t_RoUrvgg • The Guardian looks back at this day in history (2014): https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/mar/04/stunning-moments-no4-battle-of-santiago For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors   The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #60s #Sports #Football #Chile #Italy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kidnapped from her prestigious Liverpool boarding school on March 7, 1827, 15-year-old Ellen Turner was led to believe her family would be financially ruined if she didn’t marry her 30 year-old abductor, Edward Gibbon Wakefield. Before she was able to deduce that his story was a sham, Turner was whisked off to Gretna Green and inadvertently passed over the keys to her father’s estate, Shrigley, to her assailant - until an intervention from the House of Lords, and a trial that captured Britain’s imagination.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly divulge the loopholes to England’s marital age limits; explain how ‘impure’ marriages were a get-rich-quick habit for Wakefield; and reveal the extraordinary next chapter for this conniving scamster …   Further Reading: • ‘10 of History’s Worst Marriages’ (History Collection, 2018): https://historycollection.com/10-of-historys-worst-marriages/5/  • ‘Gretna Green: The bit of Scotland where English people go to get married’ (BBC, 2014): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28679430  • ‘Wakefield & the NZ Company’ (CBHS History, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We-VfjxHbRA  Ten minute daily episodes bringing you curious moments from this day in history, with Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina and Arion McNicoll: The Retrospectors. New episodes Mon-Wed; reruns Thurs-Fri. The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Edit producer:  Ollie Peart Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. This episode originally aired in 2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Billy Graham’s Los Angeles Crusade started modestly on 25th September, 1949. But after newspaper giant William Randolph Hearst told his editors to "puff Graham", the nightly revival meetings exploded in popularity, becoming a ‘sin-smashing sensation’, and Graham soon became America’s favourite preacher. His style was perfect for the Hollywood backdrop. At just 30 years old, Graham had a youthful, energetic presence, dashing good looks, and a flair for the dramatic. His sermons, packed with urgency and fast-paced delivery, connected worldly threats like communism with personal struggles, and always offered a strikingly simple answer: Jesus. By the end of this first eight-week crusade, 350,000 people had attended, with 3,000 recorded conversions. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the skills that set Graham apart from other evangelists; consider his global influence, including a record-breaking run at London’s  Haringey Arena; and recall how a singing cowboy transformed Graham’s fortunes…  Further Reading: • ‘Billy Graham's star was born at his 1949 revival in Los Angeles’ (Los Angeles Times, 2007): https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-sep-02-me-then2-story.html • ‘How Billy Graham became the most famous preacher in America’ (CNN, 2018): https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/21/us/how-billy-graham-became-famous/index.html • ‘WEMBLEY: BILLY GRAHAM IN LONDON’ (Gaumont, 1955): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGPQpQb_dDM Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ To get an exclusive NordVPN deal, head to https://nordvpn.com/retrospectors to get an extra 4 months on the 2-year plan. There’s no risk with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: China’s greatest naval explorer, Zheng He, set sail on the first of seven epic voyages on 11th July, 1405. He led a fleet of 255 ships, with an estimated 28,000 people on board. A eunuch, and a Muslim, he had risen through the ranks to become a right-hand man of the Emperor, and his prowess at sea vastly bettered the likes of his European contemporaries Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask whether reports of his size and stature were nonetheless exaggerated; consider why, for many years prior to this, China had limited exploration by sea; and explain why, despite his incredible success, bureaucrats then tried to purge He’s name from the records… Further Reading: • ‘Biography of Zheng He, Chinese Admiral’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/zheng-he-ming-chinas-great-admiral-195236 • ‘China’s greatest naval explorer sailed his treasure fleets as far as East Africa’ (National Geographic): https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2020/05/chinas-greatest-naval-explorer-sailed-his-treasure-fleets-as-far-as-east-africa • ‘Zheng He: World Explorers’ (PBS): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGcbIoTyY6s Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: Clarence Saunders opened the world’s first self-service supermarket, ‘Piggly Wiggly’, in Memphis, Tennessee on 6th September, 1916. Calculating that the revenues gained through impulse purchases would outweigh those lost from shoplifting, Saunders’ concept forever changed the world of shopping for groceries - but his business acumen did not last. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly review Saunders’ promotional hustles; weigh up the items in a shopping basket of the era; and reveal how ‘Piggly Wiggly’ (almost certainly) gained its distinctive name... Further Reading: • ‘The Untold Truth Of Piggly Wiggly’ (Mashed, 2021): https://www.mashed.com/426197/the-untold-truth-of-piggly-wiggly/ • ‘America's First Supermarket at 100: How It Changed the World’ (Time, 2016): https://time.com/4480303/supermarkets-history/ • ‘Piggly Wiggly, the first true grocery store - Life in America’ (Recollection Road, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVvgAd_5vpo 'Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gerald Holtom’s CND symbol, known internationally as the ‘peace’ symbol, made its debut at a protest march by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament on 4th April, 1958.  The march went from London to Aldermaston, where Britain’s nuclear weapons were and still are manufactured. Five hundred cardboard ‘lollipop sticks’ displaying the logo were produced - and it’s since scarcely been out of circulation as an anti-establishment plea for peace around the world. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly question whether Goya helped influence Holton’s iconic design; reveal how author J.B. Priestley had fermented the protests on this day; and consider the International Shoe Corporation’s dubious claim to the patent …  Further Reading: • ‘The Peace Symbol: Beginnings and Evolution’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/the-peace-symbol-1779351# • ‘He gave his unforgettable work for nothing. Shouldn't the designer of the peace symbol be commemorated?’ (The Guardian, 2015): https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/28/shouldnt-british-designer-gerard-holtom-of-peace-symbol-be-commemorated-paris-attacks • ‘Walter Wolfgang: 'why I marched to Aldermaston in 1958' (CND, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLqBUws7R8E #50s #UK #War #Design Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. This episode first aired in 2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The fork had only recently received Royal approval in Britain when it was gifted to the Governor of Massachusetts, John Winthrop, on 25th June, 1633. It took centuries for Americans to feel comfortable with this new way of eating, but in Italy it was already gaining ground, as Englishman Thomas Coryat observed in 1611, noting: "the Italian cannot by any means endure to have his dish touched with the fingers, seeing all men's fingers are not alike cleane. Herupon I myselft thought good to imitate the Italian fashion by this forked cutting of meate." In this episode, Rebecca, Arion and Olly consider how the Victorians conspired to make cutlery culturally exclusionary; review the American method of ‘cut and switch’; and wonder whether the early Fork Sceptics were right to question the wisdom of putting metal in their mouths...  Further Reading: • ‘Nearly 400 years later, the fork remains at the center of American dining controversy’, Quartz (2018):  https://qz.com/1313214/nearly-400-years-later-the-fork-remains-at-the-center-of-american-dining-controversy/ •‘The Rise of the Fork’, Slate (2012): http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/design/2012/06/the_history_of_the_fork_when_we_started_using_forks_and_how_their_design_changed_over_time_.html?via=gdpr-consent •‘The History of the Fork’ by History of the Plate on YouTube (2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HCnFChptvI We had EVEN MORE to say about forks and cutlery in general. No really. To hear bonus material this and every week*, support the show NOW at Patreon.com/Retrospectors!(*top two tiers only) We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #1600s #Inventions #Food #Royals #US #UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: Who invented the hamburger? It’s almost impossible to know, given that mincemeat has been consumed all around the world, and for centuries - but Oscar Bilby, of Tulsa, Oklahoma is a strong contender.  On 4th July, 1891, he grilled a beef patty, and - for the first time in documented history -  PUT IT IN A BUN. And a Fourth of July tradition was born. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly trace the origins of the American burger back to 19th century sailors in New York; consider the claim to fame of rival ‘Hamburger Charlie’ (Charlie Nagreen of Seymour, Wisconsin); and recall the short-lived attempt by the American War effort to rid the hamburger of its German heritage… Further Reading: • ‘Where Hamburgers Began—and How They Became an Iconic American Food’ (HISTORY, 2014): https://www.history.com/news/hamburger-helpers-the-history-of-americas-favorite-sandwich • ‘History of Hamburgers’ (What’s Cooking America): https://whatscookingamerica.net/history/hamburgerhistory.htm • ‘An Animated History of the Hamburger’ (New York Magazine, 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIjX8OPuf-w Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Reed Hastings and Mark Randolph registered the website that would become Netflix on 29th August, 1997, they named it ‘Kibble’ after a previous idea they had for a dogfood company. But their new concept - mailing DVDs out in the post - would become one of the big success stories of the dotcom era. To test the model, they sent a Patsy Cline CD through the mail; within a year, they had 30 employees and a growing library of nearly 1,000 DVDs.  Their first day saw them ship 137 DVDs, crashing their servers from unexpected demand. Despite the challenges, by 2005, they were mailing out a million DVDs a day, making Netflix a significant player in the DVD rental market - and positioning them perfectly to revolutionise the industry all over again with online streaming. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why Blockbuster (the then-giant in movie rentals) turned down the opportunity to buy up Netflix for just $50 million; consider Hastings’ apocryphal origin story; and reveal how the founders created not one, but two game-changing TV companies…  Further Reading: • ‘Netflix: Did one late video really bring down Blockbuster empire?  (News.com.au, 2020): https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/other-industries/true-story-behind-netflixs-rise-and-the-downfall-of-blockbuster/news-story/407f8f2305d2800125b3cc9329c48bc4 • ‘Netflix's 20th Anniversary Is Nice, But It Doesn't Matter’ (WIRED, 2017): https://www.wired.com/story/netflix-20th-anniversary/ • ‘Netflix ad’ (Netflix, 1998): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akWxRqObbEM Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Robert Paden-Powell took twenty boys to Brownsea Island, Poole on 29th July, 1907, to embark on a ten-day camp. The trip was, essentially, a laboratory for his subsequent books - and, therefore, the global Boy Scout movement.  Each day started with cocoa and exercises, and ended with campfire yarns. In between, there was a lot of knot-tying, parading and praying. By the time of the Second World War, 3.3 million British children were enrolled as Boy Scouts. In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion explore the link between the Boer war and B-P’s ‘Scouting Book for Boys’; unearth the racist and homophobic elements of the global Scout movement; and explain why Indonesia has more Scouts than anywhere else... Further Reading: • ‘Brownsea Island: The First Camp’, from The Scouting Pages: https://thescoutingpages.org.uk/the-first-camp/ • ‘Boy Scouts of America reaches $850BILLION settlement with 60,000 child sex abuse victims’ (Mail Online, 2021): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9748029/Boy-Scouts-America-reaches-pivotal-agreement-victims.html • ‘Who Was Baden-Powell? & How B-P Changed the World!’ (Scouter Stan, YouTube 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY9pv8iF4wg For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #1900s #Sport #UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Circulated in some form since the 16th century, the ‘Index of Forbidden Books’ was quietly discontinued by Pope Paul VI on 14th June, 1966. In its 400-year+ history, the Index Librorum Prohibitorum had censored hundreds of authors including the German astrologer Keppler, the philosopher Kant, and Protestant theologians Martin Luther and John Calvin. But Darwin wasn’t included - because all books about atheism were automatically considered heretical. In this episode, Rebecca, Arion and Olly explain the processes behind the scenes; revisit some choice exchanges between Catholic scholars; and reveal the books they’d ban forever - if only they could... Further Reading: • ‘Roman Catholics: The Issue of Imprimatur’ (TIME, 1966): http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,836269,00.html • Wikipedia’s list of Authors and Works in the Index: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_authors_and_works_on_the_Index_Librorum_Prohibitorum • ‘Vatican: Forbidden Works’ from Journeyman Pictures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_S81oSR2AA For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #60s #Arts #Religion #Politics #White #Italy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

rerun: Mr Blobby made his anarchic television debut on 24th October, 1992, in a new segment called “Gotcha” on the hugely popular BBC show Noel’s House Party. The googly eyed, perma-grinning, yellow and pink character was an immediate hit, selling masses of merchandise to British kids and adults alike. At the height of Blobbymania, Mr Blobby released a No. 1 UK single and spawned four theme parks around the country. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly defend Mr Blobby against the haters; speculate on how he became an inadvertent victim of his own success; and marvel at what can be achieved with a lot of alcohol and just five minute of doodling... Further Reading: • ‘'A Loveable Anarchist': The Oral History of Mr Blobby’ (Vice, 2021): https://www.vice.com/en/article/qj85mq/mr-blobby-oral-history-television  • 'A decade of Crinkley Bottom: Noel’s House Party remembered' (BBC, 1991): https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/november/noels-house-party/  • ‘Noel’s House Party: Season 2, Episode 1’ (BBC, 1992): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b53wCwecec  ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ‘Austenmania’ craze of the mid-90s kicked off with the BBC’s production of ‘Pride and Prejudice’, which first aired on 24th September, 1995. Now primarily remembered for Colin Firth’s ‘wet shirt’ scene, Andrew Davies’s ‘sexed up’ adaptation also starred Firth’s real-life squeeze Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet, and was the first serialisation of the novel to be filmed on location, with picturesque country estates providing a ‘property porn’ backdrop to the plot’s central romance. In this episode, the Retrospectors reveal how Firth later tried to distance himself from the fetishisation of his role as Mr Darcy; explain the part rat urine played in filming the iconic bathing scene; and discover how this sensationally popular miniseries sparked interest in erotic adaptations of Austen's work… Further Reading: ‘Pride and Prejudice at 20: The scene that changed everything’ (BBC Culture, 2015): https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20150922-pride-and-prejudice-at-20-the-scene-that-changed-everything ‘Books, Bras and Bridget Jones: reading adaptations of Pride and Prejudice - by Olivia Murphy’ (University of Sydney): https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/229392346.pdf ‘The Lake Scene (Colin Firth Strips Off)’ (BBC, 1995): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hasKmDr1yrA Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Arion, Rebecca and Olly unearth the origins of iconic board-game Monopoly, marketed across the United States by Parker Brothers on 5th November, 1935. Its roots lay in a game designed by Quaker feminist Lizzie Magie in 1902, intended to illustrate the theories of political economist Henry George. Her concept, called "The Landlord's Game," intended to demonstrate the unfairness of the land system. But, though home-made versions spread across the States, the game was only picked up for official distribution after being spotted by entrepreneur Charles Darrow in Atlantic City. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how little Magee was financially compensated, despite having a patent on the game; explain why the London version of the board has been played in more territories than the Atlantic City version; and consider the merits of spin-offs Gayopoly, Drinkopoly, and even the ‘Love Actually’ version… Further Reading: • ‘Lizzie Magie invented Monopoly, so why haven’t we heard of her?’ (The Guardian, 2015): https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/10/lizzie-magie-invented-monopoly-landlords-game • ‘The Game of Monopoly is Patented’ (Library of Congress, 2010): https://guides.loc.gov/this-month-in-business-history/december/game-of-monopoly-patent#:~:text=Charles%20B.,Parker%20Brothers%20bought%20the%20game • ‘The surprising history behind the board game "Monopoly"’ (CBS, 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz5H0cg2uXs This episode first premiered in 2023, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 100 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!   We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/retrospectors   The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The largest land rush in history kicked off on 16th September, 1893 - on Oklahoma's Cherokee Strip. Tens of thousands of people—horseback riders, wagons, and even a passenger train—waited for a cannon’s boom to initiate a mad race for land. The term "Boomer" became synonymous with those waiting for that cannon's boom to charge in, while "Sooners" were the sneaky folks who snuck into the land early to claim it before the rush began. Officers were tasked with clearing out the opportunistic Sooners, but it wasn’t an easy job. With everyone trying to stake their claims in chaos, tensions ran high, and skirmishes sometimes broke out between claimants, creating a dangerous situation for those trying to ‘play fair’ - and the Native American tribes who had already been relocated there once already. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why Oklahoma, previously considered arid land unsuited for farming, had suddenly become a hot commodity; reveal what happened when fights for land turned ugly; and, as settlers carved out their fortunes, investigate how long it took for the Cherokee tribes to receive their payment…. Further Reading: • ’CHEROKEE OUTLET OPENING’ (The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture): https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=CH021 • ‘Cherokee Strip Land Rush - By Jay M. Price’ (Arcadia Publisher, 2006):  https://books.google.com/books/about/Cherokee_Strip_Land_Rush.html?id=ikXycrCcTvAC • ’Cherokee Outlet Land Run’ (Olahoma Council Social Studies): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyhlU-Zt9YY&t=133s Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

India’s most famous building, Agra’s Taj Mahal, was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan - following the death in childbirth of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, on 17th June, 1631.  Renowned for its stunning architecture - a blend of Indian, Persian, and Islamic styles - the mausoleum can be seen not only as a testament to the couple’s love (despite the fact the Shah had three other wives…), but also as an embodiment of his empire’s extraordinary wealth and power. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal the scale of the workforce brought in to construct this pioneering palace; consider whether Mumtaz truly was a ‘Queen of Hearts’; and assess the various Taj Mahal replicas across the world… Further Reading: • ‘The History and Love Story of the Taj Mahal’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/the-taj-mahal-1434536 • ’A husband's love built the Taj Mahal—but cost him an empire’ (National Geographic): https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/history-magazine/article/a-husbands-love-built-the-taj-mahal-but-cost-him-an-empire • ‘Is this the most beautiful building in the world? - Stephanie Honchell Smith’ (TedEd, 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v580zy82rcE Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The first Pokémon videogames, ‘Red’ and ‘Green’ were launched in Japan on 27th February, 1996. The franchise went on to be the most successful ever video game to TV adaptation, and the highest selling trading card game in history of cards.  Created by Satoshi Tajiri, the gameplay recalled his childhood obsession for bug-hunting, and made use of Nintendo’s new GameBoy connection cable to enable players to swap and collect monsters. But it wasn’t until the card-trading game went viral in playgrounds that his company, Game Freak, was accused of encouraging gambling. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why the series was re-named for the American market; reveal just how many epileptic seizures were caused by the anime adaptation in one ill-fated broadcast; and explain what the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia had in common with a group of Long Island moms… Further Reading: • ‘The Year in Ideas; Pokémon Hegemon’ (The New York Times, 2002): https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/15/magazine/the-year-in-ideas-pokemon-hegemon.html?searchResultPosition=21 • ‘Pokémon: The Japanese game that went viral’ (BBC Culture, 2020): https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20200811-pokemon-the-japanese-game-that-went-viral • ‘Gameplay: Pokemon Red’ (GameFreak, 1996): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C034iux-EJ8 This episode first aired in 2023 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over beers at The Golden Lion in Ashburton, Devon, ‘Screaming’ Lord Sutch founded his anti-establishment political party The Monster Raving Loony Party on 16th June, 1982. It wasn’t the first time the former rock n’roller had stood on a political platform - he had previously contested Harold Wilson's seat in 1966, achieving 585 votes. But his eccentric new party - with their satirical policies, velvet hats and oversized badges - soon became a fixture of British general elections. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly examine whether the MRLP’s biggest weapon was visual or lyrical; consider the realities of trudging around the country canvassing for a political party that will inevitably never win; and reveal just how many of the party's former ‘joke’ policies subsequently entered mainstream political thinking... Content warning: suicide, brief description of dead body. Further Reading: • The Official Page of the Monster Raving Loony Party: https://www.loonyparty.com/ • Screaming Lord Sutch: An Obituary (The Guardian, 1999):  https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/jun/19/guardianobituaries.nigelfountain • Screaming Lord Sutch sings ‘Jack The Ripper’ (1964): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2ZsWENob1s For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/RetrospectorsThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #80s #Politics #Music #Person #Macabre #UK In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When 90 Irish nobles, led by the Earl of Tyrconnell and the Earl of Tyrone, fled for Normandy in the dead of night on 4th September, 1607, their intentions were not entirely clear.  Their escape, which became known as the ‘Flight of the Earls’, was mainly a bid for freedom from the tightening grip of English Protestant rule - but did they intend to return, securing support for a rebellion against England en route? Or simply seek refuge in Rome, amidst an increasingly impossible situation for Catholics after the Nine Years’ War? In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how the slow deterioration of the Irish lords’ status - giving up their titles, language, religion and private armies - led to this moment; consider why other European nations were not keen to support their cause militarily; and explain how one of their progeny ended up in Eton after being abandoned in Ireland… Further Reading: • ‘The Flight of the Earls’ (History Today, 2007):  https://www.historytoday.com/archive/flight-earls • ’Rome to mark Flight of the Earls’ (The Irish Times, 2008): https://www.irishtimes.com/news/rome-to-mark-flight-of-the-earls-1.911911 • ’The Flight of the Earls - Dr Hiram Morgan’ (Hill of The O'Neill & Ranfurly House, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38QJXROmRVk Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: Winona Ryder was arrested for shoplifting from Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills on 12th December, 2001. Amongst the products she had stuffed into her hat was a Marc Jacobs sweater worth $760, and Frederic Fekkai hair adornments listed at $600. At first, the Oscar nominated actress claimed she had been under the impression that her assistant would pay for the items later. Then, she said she had stolen them as research for a forthcoming role. But in court, the security guards said they’d seen Ryder clipping the tags off some items with scissors. She got 500 hours of Community Service, and her career was derailed for a decade. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider whether Saks leveraged the opportunity for publicity purposes; examine the strange composition of the jury who decided Ryder’s fate; and ask if her appearance in a ‘Free Winona’ t-shirt was indulgent or amusing…  Further Reading: • ‘A grass roots campaign to "free" Winona Ryder helps make $15 T-shirt LA's hottest style statement’ (British Vogue, 2002): https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/free-winona • ‘Ryder possessed 8 drugs during arrest, memo says’ (Chicago Tribune, 2002): https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2002-12-04-0212040374-story.html Winona Ryder Convicted of 2 Counts in Shoplifting - The New York Times (nytimes.com) • ‘America’s Dumbest Criminals’ (Channel 5, 2002): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unyKRYb7WPo ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: Why are the Republican Party represented by an elephant, and the Democrats (unofficially) by a donkey? The answer lies in the work of revered political cartoonist Thomas Nast, whose picture ‘Third Term Panic’ was published in Harper's Weekly on 7th November, 1874 - the day before the mid-terms. His Aesop-style symbolism is rather tricky for modern readers to untangle, but the satiric thrust of this particular cartoon related to news that President Ulysses S. Grant was considering running for an unprecedented third term in office.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why 19th century political cartoonists were so influential;   consider whether Nast’s view of the Irish corresponded with his more enlightened views on African-Americans; and reveal how Andrew Jackson reclaimed his portrayal as a ‘jackass’ and turned it into a political positive…  Further Reading: • ‘Thomas Nast: The Father of Modern Political Cartoons by Fiona Deans Halloran’ (University of North Carolina Press, 2012): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Thomas_Nast/HlX6kAxzyRYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=thomas+nast+elephant&printsec=frontcover • ‘Why are an elephant and a donkey the Republican and Democratic party symbols?’ (The Sun, 2020): https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12977208/elephant-republican-donkey-democratic-party-symbols-elections/ • ‘Elephant or Donkey? How Animals Became U.S. Political Symbols’ (National Geographic, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5MmEfkli9o ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Groundbreaking police procedural Hill Street Blues first aired on NBC on January 15th, 1981. Back then, TV dramas were mainly mindless entertainment, overshadowed by sitcoms or feel-good fare such as Little House on the Prairie. But, with its richly chaotic blend of overlapping dialogue, gritty realism, and complex characters, Hill St broke the mould.  Yet the pilot’s test audiences found the unconventional format disorienting—the flawed characters, unresolved storylines, and chaotic setting were too unfamiliar for comfort. Nonetheless, NBC renewed the low-rated show, partly because its small audience was an influential demographic of discerning viewers who valued its intelligence and depth. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Hill Street Blues revolutionized TV storytelling; consider the outdated societal attitudes on display in their pilot episode; and reveal why Rebecca was prevented from discussing her love for show on the BBC’s Mastermind… Further Reading: • ‘Hill Street Blues’: The most influential TV show ever (CNN, 2014): https://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/29/showbiz/tv/hill-street-blues-oral-history/index.html • ’15 Surprising Facts About Hill Street Blues’ (Mental Floss, 2018): https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/73436/15-gripping-facts-about-hill-street-blues • ‘Hill St Blues, Episode 1’ (NBC, 1981):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeJEEAtZH_I Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before McDonalds, there was the Horn & Hardart Automat - a chain restaurant featuring  coin-operated glass windows, which opened its first branch in Philadelphia on 12th June, 1902. The business would grow to serve 800,000 people per day. Customers exchanged nickels for dishes including meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and cherry pie. Beautifully designed with marble counters, stained glass, and chrome fixtures, the venues had an upscale ambiance, but catered mainly to working people, with a notable cult following among struggling artists. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how union pickets and fast food formats eventually caught up with the enterprise; consider the intense nostalgia still strongly felt by the chain’s former customers; and reveal how the whole concept was inspired by a visit to Berlin Zoo… Further Reading: • ‘Meet Me at the Automat’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2001): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/meet-me-at-the-automat-47804151/ • ‘The Automat: Birth of a Fast Food Nation’ (HISTORY, 2012): https://www.history.com/news/the-automat-birth-of-a-fast-food-nation • ‘Hitchcock's Monologue - The Problem With Automat Diners’ (CBS, 1958): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE9euHvuhYU Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The creation of Haiti was the culmination of a slave revolt that began on a stormy night in the dense woods of Bois Caïman in Saint-Domingue, on 21st September, 1791, when a Voodoo ceremony led by the Jamaican-born priest Dutty Boukman called upon the enslaved Africans to reject their masters and embrace freedom in a bloody uprising. Saint-Domingue was France’s most lucrative colony, producing vast quantities of sugar, coffee, cotton, and indigo. However, this wealth came at an enormous human cost. The brutal conditions on the plantations, exacerbated by rampant diseases like yellow fever, led to a staggering death rate among the enslaved population.  Meanwhile the French colonists, who were vastly outnumbered by the enslaved Africans, lived in constant fear of rebellion. When it came, the uprising rapidly gained momentum, destroying hundreds of plantations and killing thousands of white colonists within weeks. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the revolution was not actually intended to separate Haiti from France; consider how Toussaint Louverture rose through the ranks to command a formidable army and confront Napoleon’s forces; and reveal how the Haitian flag came to be…  Further Reading: • ‘Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) • Global African History’ (Blackpast, 2007): https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/haitian-revolution-1791-1804/ • ’How Toussaint L'ouverture Rose from Slavery to Lead the Haitian Revolution’ (HISTORY, 2021): https://www.history.com/news/toussaint-louverture-haiti-revolution • ’The Haitian Revolution - Liberation’ (Extra History, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfLskhmVd7k Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

‘The Annoying Thing’ is how the begenitaled amphibian animated by Erik Wernquist was first described; but by the time he released his first single ‘Axel F’ he was universally known as The Crazy Frog, and beat Coldplay’s ‘Speed of Sound’ to UK #1 on 4th June, 2005. The tale of how this possibly could have happened is unique to the early days of the internet - a teenager messing about imitating motorbike noises emailed the sound to some friends, Wernquist stumbled across it and put it in his portfolio, and then it was adopted for sale by mobile ringtone company Jamster. In this episode, Olly, Arion and Rebecca consider the value of Crazy Frog’s musical legacy, reveal that he’s not even a frog, and applaud the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority for standing up to protest, and permitting us to witness his visible scrotum…  Further Reading: • Crazy Frog - Axel F (2005): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k85mRPqvMbE • ‘Find out how the world’s most annoying noise came about’ - The Sun commemorates Crazy Frog’s 20th birthday (2017): https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/2974489/crazy-frog-just-turned-20-relive-his-hellish-magic-here/ • Not So Crazy Frog (Documentary, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8vVz1KoU2s There is SEVEN MINUTES of bonus material from our discussion about Crazy Frog. We had a lot to discuss. To hear it, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors and support the show. We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors   The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #2000s #Music #Funny #UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: When Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross failed to reach their celebrity guest, 78 year-old ‘Fawlty Towers’ star Andrew Sachs, they instead left him a series of answerphone messages, joking about sexual encounters with Sachs's granddaughter, Georgina Baillie. The segment aired on Brand’s Radio 2 show on 18th October, 2008, and became the third most-complained about programme in recent BBC history. The presenters were suspended, the station controller resigned, and the BBC was fined £150,000. The event, which became known as ‘Sachsgate’, kick-started an era of ‘compliance’ at Britain’s national broadcaster, and was an early example of tabloid-generated ‘cancel culture’. In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca ask whether the presenters would still be in their old jobs, were it not for the Mail On Sunday; discover a parallel between one of Sachs’ greatest comic moments and the voicemails that brought him back to national attention; and speculate whether ‘Sachsgate’ lead to the boom in comedy podcasts… Further Reading: • ‘Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross Abuse Andrew Sachs via Phone’ (BBC, 2008): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7IHJ66wj9g&t=476s • ‘Sachsgate: The obscene prank calls from Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross that 'haunted' Andrew Sachs before his death’ (Daily Mirror, 2016): https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/sachsgate-obscene-prank-calls-russell-9376380 • ‘BBC apologises over Brand prank’ (BBC, 2008): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7692911.stm ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The viral phrase ‘OMG’ has a much longer history than you might think… first being recorded on 9th September, 1917, in a letter from Lord John Fisher, a 75-year-old retired admiral, to Winston Churchill.  Fisher used it sarcastically, riffing on the idea of a new order of knighthood; playing off the similar-sounding "OM," the Order of Merit, which he himself had received. While his pun was witty, the abbreviation didn’t catch on at the time, and the acronym stayed buried in history until the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) uncovered it decades later, whilst preparing their 2011 edition. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how OMG resurfaced in 1994, in a soap opera message board; delve into a potted history of abbreviations, from Queen Victoria’s shorthand to Twitter; and reveal the meaning of another of Lord Fisher’s favourite phrases - "Buggin's Turn"…  Further Reading: • ‘The First Use of OMG Was in a 1917 Letter to Winston Churchill’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2012): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-first-use-of-omg-was-in-a-1917-letter-to-winston-churchill-145636383/ • ‘OMG: The creator of the abbreviation 'would have loved emojis'’ (BBC News, 2020): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-54893939 • ‘The Curious Origins of Popular Sayings’ (Hochelaga, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlin1W-qThs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The final episode of ‘Top Of The Pops’ aired on 30th July, 2006. Co-hosted by necrophiliac paedophile Jimmy Savile, the BBC institution ended after 42 years with little fanfare and no live performances. In this episode, The Retospectors consider whether TOTP could or should have survived longer into the 21st century; unpick what lay behind its enormous success in its 70s heyday; and get into a bit of argy-bargy about Snow Patrol’s ‘Chasing Cars’... Further Reading: • ‘Top of the Pops axed’ (The Guardian, 2006): https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/jun/21/broadcasting.arts • ‘BBC says fond farewell to Top of the Pops’ (BBC Press Office, 2006): https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/06_june/20/totp.shtml • ‘Top of the Pops: The Final Countdown’ (BBC, 2006): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLS3HHDWOeU This episode first premiered in 2023, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 100 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!   We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/retrospectors   The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The theft of Edvard Munch’s iconic painting ‘The Scream’ sullied the opening day of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer - but, on 7th May, 1994, the iconic work was recovered.   The painting, which has been stolen multiple times, was returned on this occasion thanks to the involvement of Britain’s Metropolitan Police - and the comic ineptitude of the thieves. In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion explore the bizarre career of professional footballer turned art thief Pal Enger; consider what Munch had in common with modern-day artists like Damien Hirst; and reveal whether Macaulay Culkin’s ‘scream’ on the poster for Home Alone was a deliberate tribute...   Further reading: • When ‘The Scream’ was stolen AGAIN - in 2005 - https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2005/jun/13/art.arttheft • Conservator Gry Landro talks about what happened to the painting after the robbery - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm45OPVxoCc • The Athletic profiles Pal Enger - https://theathletic.co.uk/2445693/2021/03/16/the-footballer-turned-art-thief-who-stole-the-scream/ For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors   The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Voiceover: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #90s #Arts #Crime #UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: Swimwear never made more of a splash than when designer Louis Réard unveiled his daring new two-piece at the Piscine Molitor in Paris on July 5th, 1946. Showgirl Micheline Bernardini modelled the new attire, named after US nuclear testing site Bikini Atoll. Really. Eleven years later, Modern Girl magazine still considered it ‘inconceivable that any girl with tact and decency’ would ever be seen wearing a bikini. Yet, by the sixties, it had become commonplace on beaches around the world. In this episode, Rebecca, Arion and Olly consider the role rival designer Jacques Heim played in inspiring the garment; reveal the countries where it remains illegal to wear a bikini (sometimes); and unearth Sarah Brightman’s surprising role in Bombalurina’s 1990 cover version of ‘Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini’... Further Reading: • 15 Hilarious First Reactions to the Invention of the Bikini (BestLife, 2019): https://bestlifeonline.com/bikini-invention-reactions/ • Fred Cole’s scorn for bikinis (‘Fashion: In The Swim’, TIME, 1950): http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,813465,00.html • That Bombalurina video, featuring the future Mrs Barlow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LagoycfdCA ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: Linguist L. L. Zamenhof published ‘Dr. Esperanto's International Language’ on 26th July, 1887 - and in so doing launched Esperanto, the most popular ‘constructed language’ on Earth. Thanks to apps like Duolingo, there are still around 2 million esperantists today. It was once even proposed as the official language of the incipient League of Nations - but shortly afterwards, many esperantists, including Zemenhoff’s own children, were murdered in the Holocaust.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly learn about Amikejo, the 3.5 sq km territory between the Netherlands, Germany and France where Esperanto nearly became the official language; revisit the 1966 horror film ‘Incubus’, starring William Shatner; and consider whether Duolingo has killed off the language conference hook-up scene... Further Reading: • ‘L.L. Zamenhof and the Shadow People’(The New Republic, 2009): https://newrepublic.com/article/72110/ll-zamenhof-and-the-shadow-people • Tim Morley’s Ted X talk on why primary school children should learn Esperanto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gSAkUOElsg • ‘The bizarre story of a long-lost horror film made entirely in Esperanto, starring William Shatner’ (Quartz, 2017): https://qz.com/1035897/the-bizarre-story-of-a-long-lost-horror-film-made-entirely-in-esperanto-starring-william-shatner/ Por bonifiko materialo kaj subteni la montr, vizito Patreon.com/Retrospectors Ni ..os est malantaŭo morgaŭ!  Sekvi nin kie ajn vi trovas, ke viaj podkastoj: podfollow.com/Retrospectors La Retrospectors estas Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, kun Matt Monteto. Temo Muziko: Pasi La Pizojn. Parolisto: Bob Ravelli. Grafika desegnado: Terry Saunders. Redakti Produktiston: Emma Corsham. Kopirajto: Rekonsider Aŭdio / Olly Mann 2024 ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The most iconic image of the 80s? Arguably. One of the biggest-selling posters of all time? Unquestionably. Yet ‘L’Enfant’ - captured on 26th May 1986 by photographer Spencer Rowell - was just a workaday, rapid-turnaround project for high street store Athena. The photo, which went on to adorn over five million walls, is often credited with inventing the ‘New Man’ - but the people in the photograph were hardly financially rewarded for their subsequent stardom. In this episode, Olly, Arion and Rebecca reveal what ‘the baby’ is up to these days; consider the extent to which the image’s cheesy reputation is tied up with British awkwardness around male sexuality; and examine just how many women model Adam Perry claims to have bedded since… Further Reading: • The original poster, uploaded by Eighties Kids: https://www.eightieskids.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/1-1.jpg • The Independent reports on the ‘excess, addiction and tragedy’ of ‘L’Enfant’: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/curse-man-and-baby-athena-and-birth-legend-432331.html • Spencer Rowell talks to Uncertain States in 2010: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0mUbTajhOc For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors   The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #80s #Arts #White #Person #UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We all know you’re here because you - like us, are a bona fide history nerd, so here's a little something from the producers of this podcast; a brand new series of Conflict Of Interest with the Imperial War Museum. We think you're going to love it How have artists, filmmakers and photographers shaped our understanding of wars and conflict? Journalist and writer Helen Lewis explores the recently-opened Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries at Imperial War Museum, London. From No Man's Land to mushroom clouds, Helen discovers the people that have interpreted over a hundred years of conflict, in this specially-curated tour by James Bulgin, Head of Public History at IWM. They are joined by Suzanne Plunkett, Reuters' Chief Photographer for the UK and Ireland, and a photojournalist for almost 30 years - and someone who can give us a first hand account of what it’s like to be capturing a seismic event in the moment. Objects Discussed: Paul Nash, The Menin Road, 1919 John Armstrong, Pro Patria, 1938  War Pictorial News No. 21 Mushroom Cloud over Nagasaki, 1945 Suzanne Plunkett, People Covered in Dust and Debris New York, 11 September 2001 -  © AP (IWM DC 123993) © AP (IWM DC 124023) Narrator:  James Taylor. Producer: Matt Hill at Rethink Audio, with support from Eleanor Head, Daniel BenChorin, and the IWM Institute team at Imperial War Museums Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ‘Get Rich Quick’ scheme pioneered by scamster Charles Ponzi came to an end with his arrest on 12th August, 1920 - but ‘Ponzi schemes’ remain a popular form of swindling to this day.  After promising his victims he could double their money in 90 days, Ponzi was charged with 86 counts of mail-fraud - yet he may not have even initially realized his scheme was illegal. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider whether Cryptocurrency is the modern-day Ponzi scheme; explain the difference between a Ponzi scheme and a Pyramid scheme; and reveal the ingenious way Ponzi told his Mum he was in prison…  If you enjoyed this episode, there are FOUR BONUS MINUTES of material, cut for time from today’s episode, about Ponzi’s subsequent adventures in Florida and Brazil. Subscribe to our top two tiers on Patreon to receive access to this, and bonus material each and every week, plus an ad-free feed of the podcast: Patreon.com/Retrospectors Further Reading: • ‘Pyramid Schemes and Ponzi Schemes Explained in One Minute’ (One Minute Economics, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QkZcdCDJJg • ‘How Charles Ponzi's Scheme Made Him A Millionaire Overnight’ (All Thats Interesting, 2020): ​​https://allthatsinteresting.com/charles-ponzi • ‘The History of Ponzi Schemes Goes Deeper Than You Think’ (Time, 2020): https://time.com/5877434/first-ponzi-scheme/ We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #20s #Crime #Person #White #US Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Modern art was controversially celebrated on 27th January, 1687, when Charles Perrault read his poem ‘The Century of Louis The Great’ at the Académie Française - railing against the prevailing wisdom that believed literature should follow the strict classical templates laid down by the likes of Homer and Aristotle. The subsequent debate between rival factions of ‘ancient’ and ‘modern’ intellectuals raged for more than five years, and became known as ‘the quarrel’.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask how much of Perrault’s argument was actually to do with kissing Louis XIV’s arse; explain what Aesop had to do with the gardens at the Palace of Versailles; and wonder if the Ancients would have approved of Agatha Christie…  Further Reading: • ‘The Battle of the Books: History and Literature in the Augustan Age’ by Joseph M. Levine (Cornell University Press, 1991): https://bit.ly/32GeA9V • ‘Charles Perrault, a multifaceted man’ (breteuil.fr): https://www.breteuil.fr/en/charles-perrault-a-multifaceted-man/ • ‘Charles Perrault INVENTED fairy tales Cinderella Mother Goose Little Red Riding Hood Sleeping Beauty’ (Timeline, 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLGOJHaE6oU Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Go to proton.me/todayinhistory to receive a 38% discount on Proton Mail The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over a Chequers banquet of sole in shrimp sauce, fillet of beef, and caramelized oranges, Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev met for the first time on 16th December, 1984.  While their ideologies were worlds apart, Thatcher appreciated Gorbachev's frankness and imagination. The Soviet leader, meanwhile, seemed equally captivated by Thatcher's unapologetic firmness and sharp intellect. Their rapport formed the foundation of a relationship that would influence global politics profoundly, with Thatcher famously declaring the Russian "a man we can do business with". In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explore the rest of the Gorbachevs’ holiday itinerary; explain how Neil Kinnock killed the vibes; and reveal what Denis and Raisa got up to while their spouses were deep in conversation…  Further Reading: • ‘Gorbachev and Thatcher: The Chequers meeting that melted the Cold War ice’ (The Times, 2022): https://www.thetimes.com/article/e9c5616c-2942-11ed-9092-6adde03bf612 • ’Political leadership in the Cold War's ending: Thatcher and the turn to engagement with the Soviet Union’ (British Politics and Policy at LSE, 2020): https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/thatcher-end-of-cold-war/ • ‘Margaret Thatcher would 'do business with' Mikhail Gorbachev - Daily Mail’ (BBC News, 1984): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhl680YRT6g Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When The White Ship hit a rock near Barfleur on 25th November, 1120, she sank, killing all 300 noblemen on-board. Among the dead was Henry I’s one legitimate son, William Adelin, plunging the English throne into a dynastic crisis. Like the Titanic, the vessel was considered the epitome of safety and prestige for its time, Captained by Thomas FitzSteven, whose father had piloted the boat that brought William the Conqueror to England. But, despite this pedigree, the crew and passengers’ decision to a) get drunk and b) race the King home sealed their doom. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly uncover the plotting that unseated the next in line to the throne (because she was a GIRL); explain how a humble butcher was the sole survivor of the shipwreck; and consider why contemporaries thought it was all God’s work…  Further Reading: • ‘900 years since the White Ship disaster’ (British Library, 2020): https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2020/11/white-ship.html • ’Earl Spencer - The White Ship, the worst ever royal disaster’ (The Oldie, 2020): https://theoldie.co.uk/blog/the-900th-anniversary-of-the-worst-ever-royal-disaster • ‘The White Ship by Charles Spencer’ (Brights of Nettlebed, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVKDHDgyTXY #Medieval #Royals #Mistakes #Rowing #France Love the show? Support us!  Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Billed as a concours for ‘horseless carriages’, the Paris–Rouen competition which took place on 22nd July, 1894, is now widely considered the world’s first motor race.  Only 21 vehicles qualified. Some of them had solid iron tyres. One was an eight passenger wagonette that weighed four tonnes. The car that came in first - a 20 horsepower steam tractor - was ruled ineligible. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the wisdom of interrupting proceedings for a 90 minute luncheon, ask whether horsepower has become an unhelpful measurement of speed in the 21st century, and explain how the UK’s Locomotive Act of 1865 killed England’s chances of competing... Further Reading: • Vintage cars repeat the Paris-Rouen route in 1966 (Associated Press): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q94gZfHQ9JQ • An account of the race from Goodwood’s historic motorsport pages (2019): https://www.goodwood.com/grr/race/historic/2019/6/the-1894-paris-rouen-trial-the-race-that-wasnt-a-race/ • Race-winner Albert Lemaître and his ‘crime of passion’: https://peoplepill.com/people/albert-lemaitre-2 For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #1800s #Technology #France Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Swimwear never made more of a splash than when designer Louis Réard unveiled his daring new two-piece at the Piscine Molitor in Paris on July 5th, 1946. Showgirl Micheline Bernardini modelled the new attire, named after US nuclear testing site Bikini Atoll. Really. Eleven years later, Modern Girl magazine still considered it ‘inconceivable that any girl with tact and decency’ would ever be seen wearing a bikini. Yet, by the sixties, it had become commonplace on beaches around the world. In this episode, Rebecca, Arion and Olly consider the role rival designer Jacques Heim played in inspiring the garment; reveal the countries where it remains illegal to wear a bikini (sometimes); and unearth Sarah Brightman’s surprising role in Bombalurina’s 1990 cover version of ‘Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini’... Further Reading: • 15 Hilarious First Reactions to the Invention of the Bikini (BestLife, 2019): https://bestlifeonline.com/bikini-invention-reactions/ • Fred Cole’s scorn for bikinis (‘Fashion: In The Swim’, TIME, 1950): http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,813465,00.html • That Bombalurina video, featuring the future Mrs Barlow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LagoycfdCA For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #40s #Inventions #Art #Fashion #White #France Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Secretive Catholic sect Opus Dei was founded on 2nd October, 1928 by the young, energetic priest Jose Maria Escriva, who believed his divine mission was to inject religious fervour into everyday life, with holiness achieved not via clergy, but from the daily work of laypeople.  The faith grew rapidly in Spain, especially during the Franco era, eventually spreading internationally. But its ties to right-wing governments, including those of Franco and Pinochet, sparked criticism; and its propagation of corporal mortification - where members engage in practices such as wearing uncomfortable garments and self-flagellation - have been controversial. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the organisation’s presence in the halls of power; investigate how the sect continues to attract followers, years after Escriva’s death (and Sainthood); and ask just how (in)accurate Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code really was…  Further Reading: • ‘What is Opus Dei, and why is it so controversial — both in and out of the Catholic Church?’ (ABC News, 2023): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-30/what-is-opus-dei-secretive-catholic-church-group-prelature/101905802 • ‘Letter: A former member recalls Opus Dei’s methods’ (Financial Times, 2024): https://www.ft.com/content/5e053d88-4b12-4cd9-95d9-fbfee2eecfa4 • ’St. Josemaria Escriva's impact’ (Catholic News Service, 2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHFNuo5cefQ Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bill Bowerman, co-founder of Nike, was on a quest for the perfect running shoe grip when he found inspiration in his wife’s waffle iron. Pouring polyurethane directly onto their wedding gift, he began to develop the prototype that would eventually become Nike’s legendary waffle sole trainer, and which received its patent on 26th February, 1974.  But Nike wasn’t always the fashion powerhouse we know today. Back then, it was still Blue Ribbon Sports, importing Japanese running shoes. Bowerman, a top U.S. college track coach, and Phil Knight, a former runner and business enthusiast, had teamed up to take on the dominant German brands like Adidas and Puma.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why, despite this astonishing origin story, the sneaker was first called the "Moon Shoe"; take a whistlestop tour through some other Nike highlights, including the iconic ‘swoosh’ and "Just Do It" slogan; and reveal what happened to the humble waffle iron at the centre of the story… Further Reading: • ‘Nike receives patent for waffle‑soled trainers—invented in a waffle iron | February 26, 1974’ (HISTORY, 2024): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nike-patent-waffle-sole-trainers-invented-in-waffle-iron • ‘How Nike Won the Cultural Marathon’ (The New York Times, 2022): https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/15/style/nike-culture.html?searchResultPosition=6 • ’Iconic Nike waffle shoes worn by legendary distance runner Steve Prefontaine up for auction’ (KGW News, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKnh5VVPQbU Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”, the American statesman Benjamin Franklin once said, but until 9 January, 1799, taxation looked very different to the way it does today, because this was the day the world was first introduced to income tax. Its introduction by British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger was not one of his most popular innovations, but he had good reason to be wanting to bring more money into the government’s coffers, given the national debt had doubled during the American War of Independence and now stood at £243 million. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why there was a bonfire outside Westminster the day income tax was eventually repealed; marvel that taxation used to target the wealthy rather than the poor; and reveal why taxing farts is more sensible than it sounds…  Further Reading: • ‘9 January 1799: income tax introduced to Britain’ (Money Week, 2021): https://moneyweek.com/372129/9-january-1799-income-tax-introduced-to-britain  • ‘A short history of income tax’ (The Independent, 1995): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/a-short-history-of-income-tax-1577708.html • ‘William Hague on William Pitt’ (Cambridge University, 2010): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0tHmYEaqok ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wu Zetian became China's first and only female Emperor on 16th October, 655 - cementing an extraordinary rise from Concubine to Secretary to Consort to Queen. On the day of her coronation in 690, a massive earthquake rocked China, a supposed sign of divine disapproval. But Wu flipped the narrative, declaring that the upheaval was a blessing, a symbol of Buddhist paradise manifesting on earth.  Her path to power was unconventional, defying deeply entrenched Confucian ideals that regarded female rulers as unnatural, even catastrophic. It was a rise marked by brutal rivalries, during which she allegedly orchestrated the downfall of enemies, including her rival Empress Wang, and even faced accusations of murdering her own daughter to frame a competitor to the throne. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly weigh up the sexist commentary of the time with the genuine ruthlessness Wu seemed to display; explain how her all-male hareem helped bring about her downfall; and consider how, even as recently as 2014, she remains a controversial, sexualised and divisive figure in China… Further Reading: • ‘The First and Only Woman Emperor of China’ (Google Arts & Culture): https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-first-and-only-woman-emperor-of-china/PQWR-NRltC6QFA?hl=en • ’Empress Wu Zetian: The Only Woman To Rule China’ (HistoryExtra, 2023): https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/empress-wu-zetian-china-rule-life-reputation/ • ‘Wu Zetian: China's First & Only Female Emperor | Empress Who Ruled The World’ (Timeline, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeZ7esmQcm4 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One of the BBC’s biggest-ever flops, soap opera ‘Eldorado’, broadcast its final episode on 9th July, 1993 - just one year after it had begun, at a reported cost of £10 million. Focussing on the glamorous lives of British expats - fusing the elements of ‘EastEnders’ and ‘Neighbours’ - it had seemed destined to be a sure-fire hit. So, a large permanent set for the fictional town of Los Barcos was built from scratch in the Costa Del Sol. These days it is used for paint-balling. In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion unearth Rupert Murdoch’s alleged attempts to sabotage the soap; consider whether it was actually rather more successful an enterprise than it was given credit for at the time; and reveal which cancelled TV shows they’d resurrect, if only they could... Further Reading: • The final scene and closing credits of ‘Eldorado’ (BBC, 1993): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TfR15KgC6w • ‘Sun, sea and subtitles - how Eldorado became TV's biggest flop’ (The Guardian, 2018): https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jul/09/eldorado-bbc-one-soap-opera • Los Barcos - the Unofficial Eldorado Website: http://www.losbarcos.org.uk/ For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #90s #TV #Person #UK  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Producer John Langley had been pitching a no-frills, fly-on-the-wall documentary series following US Police Officers for six years when, in the midst of a writer’s strike, Fox finally bit. COPS made its debut on 11th March, 1989, becoming one of the longest-running shows in TV history. Langley called it ‘video vérité’; the New York Times called it ‘tabloid TV’. From the beginning, concerns about its depiction of race relations in America led to criticism that eventually brought about its cancellation - before it was reinstated on a different TV network. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how various Police departments across the States went from being resistant to being featured in COPS to actually nominating themselves for filming; consider why participants were so keen to sign release forms when they were being depicted in such a vulnerable position; and ask if the first series still seems as ‘tabloid’ as it was considered at the time…  Further Reading: • ‘Episode One: Broward County Florida - Part 2’ (Fox, 1989): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5k36VTrZcY • ‘Review/Television; 'Cops' Camera Shows the Real Thing’ (The New York Times, 1989): https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/07/arts/review-television-cops-camera-shows-the-real-thing.html • ‘John Langley: Producer who turned police work into prime reality TV’ (The Independent, 2021): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/john-langley-cops-reality-tv-obituary-b1875648.html This episode originally aired in 2022 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: The ‘Teapot Dome scandal’ reached its climax when Senator Albert Fall was found guilty of bribery, fined $100,000 and sent to jail on 25th October, 1929. During the Presidency of Warren G Harding, Fall had been offering private companies the chance to drill for oil on state land, without competitive bidding, in return for bags cash. And some farm animals.  In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca reveal the unheroic role of newspapers in suppressing the scandal; pick apart the realism of ‘There Will Be Blood’; and ask whether American politics has ever lost its penchant for ‘kickbacks’... Further Reading: • ‘Secretary Fall resigns in Teapot Dome scandal’ (HISTORY, 2020): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/secretary-fall-resigns-in-teapot-dome-scandal  • ‘History Brief: The Ohio Gang and the Teapot Dome Scandal’ (Reading Through History, 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjL-uE4lSvI • ‘The Mystery Behind the Greystone Mansion Murder-Suicide’ (Scare Street, 2019): https://scarestreet.com/greystone-mansion/ ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: Supersonic aircraft took a giant leap forward when the French and British governments signed a treaty to join forces on designing Concorde on 29th November, 1962. Up until this point, the two countries had been developing their aircraft separately - which had already cost the United Kingdom £150 million. Technologically superior and far more luxurious than any commercial passenger jet that had come before, it was also the fastest - capable of launching its wealthy clientele from London to New York in under three hours. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the success of the 747 killed off supersonic flight; consider how Britain blew its chance to create 'the British Airbus'; and reveal why Pepsi’s blue paint-job for Air France could have proven truly explosive… Further Reading: • ‘Concorde and supersonic travel: The days when the sun rose in the west’ (The Independent, 2013): https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/concorde-and-supersonic-travel-the-days-when-the-sun-rose-in-the-west-8888836.html • ‘Concorde’s first British test flight, 50 years on’ (History of government, gov.uk 2019): https://history.blog.gov.uk/2019/04/09/concordes-first-british-test-flight-50-years-on/ • ‘Anglo-French Airliner Model Concorde’ (British Pathé, 1962): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfPiPC6O7qs ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Under the orders of King Charles III - who wanted marble and classical art for his palace at Portici - Spanish military engineer Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre excavated some Campanian ruins on 1st April, 1748 - and discovered the long-lost city of Pompeii. Buried beneath volcanic ash and debris since Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79, much of the city was remarkably preserved; including breathtaking buildings that portrayed the opulent lifestyle enjoyed by the city's wealthy elite. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the site has since inspired all archaeological digs; ask why Pompeii in particular has generated such huge human interest; and reveal the truth about ‘Wanking Man’... Further Reading: • ‘Excavations of Pompeii in the 18th Century · The Discovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum’ (from ‘Piranesi in Rome’, Wellesley College): http://omeka.wellesley.edu/piranesi-rome/exhibits/show/discovery-of-pompeii-and-hercu/pompeii-excavations • ‘The two embracing 'maidens' of Pompeii are both MEN’ (MailOnline, 2017):  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4391498/The-two-embracing-maidens-Pompeii-MEN.html • ‘Pompeii: New Studies Reveal Secrets From a Dead City’ (National Geographic, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSg_Sd94Y8k Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Queen Victoria moved from her birthplace, Kensington Palace, and decreed Buckingham Palace her official residence on 13th July, 1837. She was 18, newly-crowned - and until then had shared a bedroom with her mother. Built in 1703 for the Duke of Buckingham, the Palace had never previously permanently housed anyone, and was reportedly drafty, dirty, and staffed by ‘slovenly’ servants. But, you know, she made do. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly examine the escapades of ‘the boy Jones’ - a teenage stalker of the young Victoria; pore through the pages of the young monarch’s diaries; and reveal which celebrities claim to have got down and dirty in the Queen's official residence… Further Reading: • Profile of Queen Victoria from Historic Royal Palaces: https://www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/history-and-stories/queen-victoria/#gs.59mhsd • Buckingham Palace page at the Royal Collection Trust:  https://www.rct.uk/visit/buckingham-palace/who-built-buckingham-palace#/ • ‘Victoria’s Palace’ documentary (ITV, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUn63ZIELxU For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #Victorian #1800s #Royals #White #UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun: A female contestant had never scooped the jackpot on an American TV quiz show before New York psychologist Dr Joyce Brothers won $64,000 on 6th December, 1955. Her specialist subject was boxing - a topic about which she knew little, until she devoted herself to studying the annals of the sport in preparation for multiple appearances on the show. Despite the best efforts of sponsors Revlon to catch her out, she claimed the top prize on ‘The $64,000 Question’ AND its subsequent spin-off, ‘The $64,000 Challenge’. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how Brothers combatted sexism on many prior occasions; explain how she swerved ‘the Quiz Show scandals’; and celebrate her ability to leverage her celebrity and academic qualifications to become America’s first pop psychologist… Further Reading: • ‘Dr. Joyce Brothers on The $64,000 Question’ (CBS, 1955): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqhxN9a8OCg • ‘Obituary: Popular TV psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers dies at 85’ (Los Angeles Times, 2013): https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-joyce-brothers-20130514-story.html • ‘Joyce Brothers: She overcame sexism to become the first woman to win US quiz show’ (Honey, 2021): https://honey.nine.com.au/latest/joyce-brothers-first-woman-to-win-us-quiz-show-64000-question-women-in-history/dd9f0dd2-0815-47e5-b84b-8f13edeb688f ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John, Paul, George and Ringo travelled to a transcendental meditation workshop in Bangor, Wales on 25th August, 1967 - at the invitation of ‘giggling guru’, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The event changed everything for The Fab Four - influencing their music, their philosophy, and ultimately contributing to the end of the band. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explore whether the experience encouraged them to give up LSD; reveal how Ringo, frankly, never really seemed to be in to it; and uncover the Maharishi’s later plans for a Yogic amusement park... Further Reading: • The Beatles in Bangor – silent news footage (1967): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuyE3bSnfVo&t=6s • ‘Lennon was right. The Giggling Guru was a shameless old fraud’ (Daily Mail, 2008): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-512747/Lennon-right-The-Giggling-Guru-shameless-old-fraud.html#:~:text=The%20Giggling%20Guru%20was%20a%20shameless%20old%20fraud,teach%20them%20to%20defy%20gravity%20by%20%22yogic%20flying%22. • Doug Henning’s theme park plans: https://doughenningproject.com/tag/theme-park/ For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #60s #Music #White #UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sliced bread had never been automated before Otto Rohwedder unveiled his “power-driven, multi-bladed bread slicer” at Chillicothe Baking Company on July 6, 1928 - after an astonishing SIXTEEN years of self-funded development. The Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune ran a front-page story in response - warning that consumers might find sliced bread “startling,” but that “the typical housewife could expect a thrill of pleasure when she first sees a loaf of this bread with each slice the exact counterpart of its fellows.” In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly trace the origins of this seismic event to the creation of the pop-up toaster in 1921; consider what it means to be ‘an itinerant jeweller’; and reveal the results of a survey of 30,000 housewives on optimum slice-width… Further Reading: • ‘Sliced Bread: Where did it come from?’ on HowStuffWorks’ YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q7oMc-L57c • ‘The best thing since sliced bread’ (Jim Glynne, The Madera Tribune, 2018): http://www.maderatribune.com/single-post/2018/07/07/the-best-thing-since-sliced-bread • Chillicothe, Missouri - ‘The Home of Sliced Bread’: http://www.homeofslicedbread.com/ For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #20s #Person #Food #Inventions #Technology #White #US Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When marine amphibians fall from the sky, people tend to notice. So it was on 30th June, 1892 - when it reportedly rained FROGS in the Birmingham suburb of Moseley. Multiple accounts of animal rain - now thought to be caused by tornadoes sweeping up creatures as they traverse local water sources - can be found as far back as ancient Roman literature, and throughout the medieval era. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the Biblical resonance of froggy-drops, discover the “Miss ‘Rain of Fish’” competition in Latin America, and work out why it’s said to be ‘raining cats and dogs’, when it literally never is... Further Reading: ‘Nine Times Animals Rained Down From The Sky’, from World List’s YouTube channel (2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWNSc49jDf8 ‘It's raining birds and frogs: Animal phenomena are surprisingly common but why do they happen?’ (Independent, 2011): https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/it-s-raining-birds-and-frogs-animal-phenomena-are-surprisingly-common-but-why-do-they-happen-2177017.html More on ‘Miss Lluvia De Peces’ (All That’s Interesting, 2019): https://allthatsinteresting.com/fish-rain-lluvia-de-peces For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #1800s #Strange #Funny #UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

German pop duo Milli Vanilli sold 33 million singles, including three US number ones, but harboured a shameful secret: their vocals were sung by someone else. At a promotional gig in Connecticut on 21st July, 1989, their backing track crashed - and speculation began to mount. “I knew right then and there, it was the beginning of the end for Milli Vanilli,” ‘singer’ Rob Pilatus admitted to the Los Angeles Times in November 1990. “When my voice got stuck in the computer and it just kept repeating and repeating, I panicked. I just ran off the stage.″ In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion reveal how impresario Frank Farian created the band from his Boney M template; ask whether the young men fronting the project took a disproportionate amount of the flack from the public; and consider if ‘Girl You Know It’s True’ might just be the most popular pop song ever to have a spoken word intro…  Further Reading: • The moment the record skipped (VH1 Behind The Music): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiB3GTW-j2o • ‘30 Years Ago, Milli Vanilli Returned Their Best New Artist Grammy; Should They Get the Award Back Now?’ (Variety, 2020): https://variety.com/2020/music/news/milli-vanilli-grammy-scandal-fab-morvan-1234865697/ • Frank Farian turns 75 (DW, 2016): https://www.dw.com/en/boney-m-producer-frank-farian-turns-75/a-19406061 For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #80s #Music #Discoveries #Technology #White #US #Germany Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod, better known to the world as Mata Hari, set the Paris stage ablaze on March 13, 1905, with a scandalous dance routine that turned her into an overnight success.  Sporting a gold jeweled breastplate and bracelets, Mata Hari’s performance was a striptease that left little to the imagination. But even the wildest imagination couldn’t envisage what lay ahead for the exotic dancer, courtesan, traitor and spy whose name became synonymous with the femme fatale. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca, and Olly discuss how she played both sides of the First World War for fools; uncover how she met her husband through a newspaper ad; and explain why she always wore a breastplate during sex… Further Reading: • ‘Mata Hari: exotic dancer, femme fatale, traitor and spy’ (History Extra, 2019): https://www.historyextra.com/period/first-world-war/mata-hari-exotic-dancer-femme-fatale-traitor-wwi-spy/  • ‘“I am ready”: Mata Hari faced a firing squad for spying — and refused a blindfold.’ (The Washington Post, 2017): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/10/15/i-am-ready-mata-hari-faced-a-firing-squad-for-spying-and-refused-a-blindfold/  • ‘Buckwild Facts About Mata Hari, The Exotic Dancer Who Became A WWI Spy’ (Weird History, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Sh-fB_qMUg  This episode originally aired in 2023 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The first Paralympic Games - hosting 400 athletes from 23 countries - took place in Rome on 18th September, 1960.  But it was only known by this name retrospectively: the day it took place, this festival of disabled sport was called The Ninth Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games. Sprung from a competition held at a hospital in Buckinghamshire, and pioneered by German-Jewish neurosurgeon Dr. Ludwig Guttman, the Games began as part of a physiotherapy programme for soldiers and civilians with spinal cord injuries. As the Stoke Mandeville Games expanded, so did the variety of sports and the level of competition. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal Russia’s initial refusal to participate; uncover the controversial use of performance-enhancing drugs; and celebrate Dr. Guttman’s vision of what was possible for athletes with disabilities... Further Reading: • Paralympians still hold a flame for Stoke Mandeville pioneer (The Times, 2023): https://www.thetimes.com/sport/cricket/article/paralympians-still-hold-a-flame-for-stoke-mandeville-pioneer-653kbqjx5 • ‘Celebrating 60 years since Rome 1960 - the first Paralympic Games!’ (Paralympic Games, 2020): https://www.paralympic.org/feature/celebrating-60-years-rome-1960-first-paralympic-games • ’How the Paralympics Began’ (The Retrospectors, 2024): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1cA22GsmBE Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices